5/15/2022 other sports Edit

Scott, Rutgers men's lacrosse top Harvard in NCAA Tournament home game

Chris Nalwasky • TheKnightReport

Beat Writer

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Sixth-seeded Rutgers men's lacrosse, ranked No. 8 by Inside Lacrosse, defeated unseeded and No. 14 Harvard, 19-9, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday at Yurcak Field in Piscataway.

Rutgers next faces third-seeded and No. 3 Penn, another Ivy League opponent, in the quarterfinals next Saturday at noon in Hempstead, N.Y.

The game against Harvard marked the first time Rutgers hosted an NCAA Tournament in lacrosse since 2003. Fans filled the stands, and then overflowed the grassy area on the opposite side of the field.

"This week was very exciting for our program, to be able to host a NCAA Tournament first round game," Rutgers head coach Brian Brecht said. "It was electric from the time we stepped out onto the field in warmups. It felt like a big game environment. Our guys felt that. That was great for our program. To have success and play well like we did gave us the chance to stay together and keep going with this group. I was very happy with the way we got started, we were great facing off and Colin make some big saves. I'm proud of our guys for the way we came out of halftime. The offensive guys did a great job and Colin Kirst and our defense shut the door on them."

Shane Knobloch put Rutgers on the scoreboard first at the 12:28 mark in the first quarter. Less than two minutes later, Brian Cameron and Knobloch score within about 40 seconds of each other to put Rutgers ahead 3-0.

Harvard came back with a goal 1:10 later, but then Mitch Bartolo scored two times and Ross Scott added another to give Rutgers a 6-1 in the second quarter.

The Crimson settled down however netting three goals in a row to make it a 6-4 game.

Cameron recorded his second goal of the game 2:23 remaining in the second, and then Harvard tacked on one more a the 1:10 mark.

The Scarlet Knights led 7-4 at halftime.

Ryan Gallagher broke the ice after the break to make it a three-goal game again at 8-5. Harvard wouldn't go away as it came back to score just over a minute later, but Scott found the back of the cage twice in 59 seconds for a hat trick and just like that, Rutgers was up 10-6.

Harvard had a wipe open shot attempt with 9:20 to go in the third, but Scarlet Knights goalie Colin Kirst came up with a big save in front. After a Harvard timeout on the ensuing Rutgers possession, Ronan Jacoby netted to goal to give Rutgers an 11-6 advantage.

Scott found the back of the cage for a fourth time and then Cameron notched his third goal of the day with 2:36 remaining to go in the third as Rutgers had its largest lead at 13-6 at the time.

Bartolo gave Rutgers its third hat trick of the day with his third goal with 10:23 left in the game. Scott then scored his fifth less than a minute later to make it 15-8, and then netted his whopping sixth goal of the game to put Rutgers up 16-8.

Sam Stephen got in on the action for Rutgers with a goal a mere five seconds later. Despite the nine-goal lead, Rutgers wasn't done. Twenty-one ticks later, Scott recorded goal No. 7 with 5:18 to go to make it 18-8 Scarlet Knights, and then slung in No. 8 with 3:31 left.

Ross' eight goals was the second most goals ever in the first round of the NCAA Tournament (nine), and third most by a Scarlet Knight all time. He has 48 goals on the season, tied for the second most as well in team history.

Bartolo and Cameron both finished with three goals as well while Knobloch had his two. Bartolo notched three assists as well and Gallagher added two.

Kirst made 17 saves on the day, including his 200th of his career. Rutgers won 22 faceoffs, had 32 shots on goal, and 47 shots total.

Looking ahead, Rutgers and Penn haven't met since 1986.

"We had a great crowd of fans supporting us, that was great to see. We've been doing it for each other, to get one more week means the world to us," Scott said. "The rest of the guys on the field helped me be successful, we did a great job of working together and setting up those opportunities. And it starts with the defense, making huge stops, clearing the ball and setting up the offense."