The No. 4-ranked Rutgers men’s lacrosse team defeated Johns Hopkins, 12-7, on Sunday night inside SHI Stadium in Piscataway.
With the win, the Scarlet Knights moved to 10-1 on the season and 2-0 in Big Ten Conference play. The previous fastest to get to at least 10 wins was in 1982 when Rutgers did so in the 12th game of the season.
"We had a great week of practice. When we prepare well, we play well and we played to our strengths in that game,” Rutgers head coach Brian Brecht said. “They were excited to play tonight and that showed coming out of the gates. Coach Jimmy Ryan does a great job of getting our defense prepared and we took a step forward this week. They continue to make plays."
Rutgers has reached double-digit wins for the first time since 2017 and third time under Brecht (2022, 2017, 2016). The Scarlet Knights have secured 10-plus wins in 1982, 1986, 1990, and 2003 as well.
The victory also marked the third win over Hopkins in the last two years and ninth all-time. Rutgers has won three out of the last four with the Blue Jays. Rutgers is 2-0 in league play for the second season in a row and for the third time since joining the Big Ten in 2014.
Shane Knoblock tallied three goals on the night to go along with two assists. Ronan Jacoby, Mitch Bartolo, and Ryan Gallagher all scored twice while Jacoby added two assists for a four-point contest. The Scarlet Knights also received goals from Zackary Francowiak, Jack Aimone, and Brian Cameron. For Gallagher, it marked a season-high in goals for him. Knobloch notched his fourth hat trick of the year.
Knobloch also tied his career-high in assists and no has career-bests in goals (20), assists (seven), and points (27).
Bobby Russo scooped up six ground balls. Francowiak forced three turnovers (career-high) and had three ground balls, and Colin Kirst made seven saves between the pipes. Russo’s six ground balls were a new career-high, and it was the most by a Rutgers starting close defenseman since Garrett Bullet in 2020, and the most by a RU starting close defender in a Big Ten game since Chris Groel in 2016.
The Scarlet Knights found the back of the net the first three times in the game and built a 9-2 lead before leading 9-4 at halftime. Rutgers held Hopkins scoreless over the final 16:42 of the game.
Rutgers tallied 19 shots on goal to Hopkins' 14 and had 39 ground balls to the Blue Jays' 30. Hopkins did however win more faceoffs (14-9) and had one less turnover (21-20).
"We moved the ball well the whole game on offense and that helped us get the win,” Knobloch said. “I was getting good looks today. Our coaches do a great job of preparing us all week long and we just executed that game plan."
Next up, Rutgers travels to No. 1 Maryland on Sunday at 7:00 p.m. Maryland is 9-0 on the year and it made the national championship last spring. Rutgers will be searching for its first victory over the Terrapins since 1980 and second in program history. Maryland won both matchups a year ago, 19-12, and 13-9.
Last week, Ethan Rall (First Team), Brennan Kamish (Third Team), Kirst (Third Team), Ross Scott (Third Team), and Knobloch (Honorable Mention) were recognized as Midseason All-American by Inside Lacrosse. The Scarlet Knights were one of six teams with five All-Americans on the list and one of just three teams with four players on the top three teams.
The Big Ten also honored Scott as the Co-Offensive Player of the Week, while defenseman Jaryd Jean-Felix was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week.
Rutgers is ranked No. 4 in the nation each by Inside Lacrosse and USA Lacrosse Magazine as of April 4.
"Getting into Big Ten play, we're really coming into our own and meshing well on the defensive end,” Russo said. “We talk a lot about not getting too high or too low in the moment. When the game slowed down in the second half, we knew we had to adjust to that, not press and just play good defense and that worked out in the end."
Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisNalwasky.
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