The Rutgers men’s lacrosse team fell to Ohio State 14-8 on Saturday afternoon. The Scarlet Knights (6-4, 0-2) have now dropped two straight games to open up their Big Ten schedule. For the Buckeyes (6-5, 1-1), the win was their first in their last three games.
Ohio State got off on the front foot in this one in what was a bit of a quiet first quarter for both teams. The Buckeyes struck first at the 11:53 mark, but No. 19 Rutgers responded right away with a goal from Colin Kurdyla.
Ohio State would score twice more to take a 3-1 lead heading into the second quarter. The Buckeyes recorded seven shots on goal to the Knights’ four in the opening quarter.
Rutgers got on the board first in the second with a strike from Jack Aimone, assisted by Ross Scott. The score was the first for the Knights in nearly 15 minutes of game time.
From there, Rutgers went on another scoring drought, this time nearing 10 minutes before Logan Peters scored his 1st goal of the season. In that time, Ohio State tallied 2 more goals. The game went into halftime with the Buckeyes leading 5-3.
In the opening half, the Knights were dominated in many facets of the game, trailing 14-7 in shots on goal and 20-11 in ground balls. Cardin Stoller’s nine saves kept Rutgers afloat. Just 3 goals across two quarters was not ideal for the Knights, but they remained alive going into the second half thanks to Stoller’s strong play.
The third quarter began with 2 quick goals from Ohio State, separated by just 11 seconds. Rutgers now trailed 7-3, and with the look of its offense throughout the rest of the game, this deficit seemed almost insurmountable.
The Buckeyes’ lead would grow to as big as five before Scott and Shane Knobloch each tallied scores to put the Knights down 9-6. Ohio State responded, though, after Stoller roamed behind the cage to try and collect a loose ball but ultimately gifted it right back to the Buckeyes for an empty-net goal.
After some back and forth, the third quarter ended 11-7 in favor of Ohio State.
The fourth quarter mimicked what was seen in Rutgers’ loss last weekend to Johns Hopkins, as the former could not get any momentum going and fell 14-8.
Alex Marinier led the Buckeyes in their victory with 5 goals.
Knobloch had 2 goals and two assists for the Knights. Stoller finished with 12 saves and a save percentage of 46.2%.
Things won’t get any easier for Rutgers with road games against Michigan and Maryland up next.
--------------------------------------------------------------
• Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
