Graduate midfielder Thomas Greenblatt celebrating a goal in a 14-8 victory over the No. 19 Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Saturday, March 30. Credit: Ohio State Athletics
The Ohio State men’s lacrosse team defeated the No. 19 Rutgers Scarlet Knights (6-4, 0-2 Big Ten) 14-8 Saturday at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey.
This matchup marked the first win for the Buckeyes (6-5, 1-1 Big Ten) against a top-25 opponent this season. The team has already played against six top-25 teams throughout the season.
The matchup also served as Ohio State’s first win against a Big Ten opponent this season after falling to No. 4 Penn State at home in its Big Ten season opener March 24.
Junior attacker Ben Mayer kicked off the scoring for both squads with a goal at the 11:53 mark in the first quarter. Less than a minute later, Rutgers freshman midfielder Colin Kurdyla knotted the game back up with a man-up goal off of a holding penalty on graduate faceoff Tommy Burke.
The Scarlet Knights failed to find the back of the net for the remainder of the first quarter due to Ohio State’s ability to force turnovers. The Buckeyes were able to put in two additional goals.
Goals from graduate attacker Kurt Bruun and junior attacker Jack McKenna throughout the second quarter allowed the Buckeyes to jump out to a three-goal lead over the Scarlet Knights entering halftime.
Rutgers was able to keep up with the Buckeyes’ offense in the second quarter, scoring two goals to match Ohio State’s two, but could not generate enough opportunities for its offense to establish a comeback.
After halftime, scoring opened up for both teams.
The Buckeyes struck first, scoring three goals in three minutes and growing their lead to 8-3 with 10:58 left in the third quarter. However, Rutgers’ offense finally began to generate some scoring with faceoff as graduate student Cole Brams pushed in a goal for the Scarlet Knights five seconds later.
Rutgers’ senior midfielder Shane Knobloch was able to score two additional goals for the Scarlet Knights throughout the third quarter, but Ohio State’s offense continued to prevail, matching every Rutgers score with one of its own.
The fourth quarter saw goals from Mayer and junior midfielders Alex Marinier and Ari Allen despite the Buckeyes committing six turnovers. The Scarlet Knights were able to get one goal on the board from Kurdyla, but it was too late.
Ohio State is set to take on the No. 12 Maryland Terrapins in College Park, Maryland, Saturday at noon. The game will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus.
