#8 Rutgers Men’s Lacrosse Downs Hofstra 22-10

The Scarlet Knights were back in action on the road once again, for the 4th consecutive weekend, this time at Shuart Stadium in Hempstead, Long Island on a warm, partly sunny spring afternoon, to take on the Hofstra Pride. The #10 Rutgers offense looked to continue their onslaught following a dominant 22-goal win against Lafayette this past Tuesday. Hofstra’s #10 nationally ranked defense hoped to have an answer.

1st Quarter

In the perhaps the most dominant opening quarter to a game in recent memory, the Knights raced out quickly for a 1-0 lead after Jonathan Dugenio won the face-off, sprinted down the field, and scored. Dugenio took a hard hit on the play and would not return.

After Dugenio’s goal, Rutgers would never relinquish the lead, adding 6 goals, each amazingly by a unique player: Ross Scott, Ryan Gallagher, Michael Sanguinetti, Bobby Russo, Tommy Coyne, and Brian Cameron, his with 18 ticks left on the clock.

2nd Quarter

Shane Knobloch, Remington Reynolds, and Cameron would log the first three goals of the quarter to grow RU’s lead to 10-nil. For Baltimore, Maryland Freshman Reynolds, this was his first career college goal.

The Pride finally found the back of the net after being held scoreless for the first 22 minutes of the match on a goal by Rory Jones. Rutgers would go on to add goals by Justin Kim, Brennan Kammish and Junior James Ringer. For Kammish and Ringer, it was their first goals of the season. The Pride added a goal of their own and the teams went into the locker-room with Rutgers leading 13-2.

3rd Quarter

Toby Burgdorf replaced Colin Korst in goal to start the 2nd half. The Pride would net the first two goals of the quarter on scores by Dylan McIntosh and Sterlyn Ardrey. The Knights would counter with goals by Tommy Coyne, Nick Teresky, and Ronan Jacoby for a 16-4 advantage. Following a Hofstra goal at the midway point of the quarter, Rutgers would go on to add two goals by Jake Aimone and one each by Knobloch and Mitch Bartolo. The Pride would add one of their own as the teams heading into the 4th with Rutgers up 20-6.

4th Quarter

Stephen Russo started at goal for the Knights. Dante Kulas and Erik Henig would net Rutgers’s 21st and 22nd goals of the match respectively. The Pride would add two goals against Stephen Russo and two more against Sophomore Liam Gray to close out the scoring. Final score: Rutgers 22, Hofstra 10.

My Final Thoughts

Rutgers completely dominated this match and never let up, no Tums required, as evidenced by 17 different Scarlet Knights entering the scoring column of the box score. Coach Brecht had the luxury of giving his starters plenty of rest heading into the first conference game of the season, this coming Saturday against #7 Ohio State.

With Dugenio suffering an injury after the opening face-off, the Knights would only go on to win 16 of 35 face-offs. Backup Sam Stephan won 6 of 14, Michael Ott won 4 of 9 and heralded freshman Luke Romanek won 5 of 11. I’m not sure of Dugenio’s status at the time of writing this recap but the Knights are going to have to improve their face-off game significantly entering Big Ten play.

Rutgers finishes non-conference play 8-1, tying their best mark under coach Brecht since he took over in 2012. With the one loss coming against #3 Princeton, the Knights head into conference play with no major blemishes on their resume to date.

Postgame Notes

• The eight non-conference wins are the most for the program dating back to joining the ECAC in 2000.
• In the 32nd meeting all-time between RU and Hofstra, RU now holds a 17-15 advantage, and has won the last two meetings (2019 and 2022).

Up Next

RU will begin Big Ten play next weekend against No. 7 Ohio State. The game will be at home, Sunday March 27 at noon, and have a national television broadcast by ESPNU. With #1 Maryland routing #2 Virginia, Rutgers will need to come out strong in conference play to keep up with the Terrapins. I will have a midweek around-the-horn update on B1G lacrosse as we head into very meaningful conference play.