Rutgers Men's Lacrosse Makes History, Downs No. 2 Maryland, 8-6
On an overcast, chilly night this past weekend, the Scarlet Knights delivered their most impressive performance of the season, defeating the No. 2 nationally ranked Maryland Terrapins for their highest-ranked win in program history and their first over Maryland in 45 years.
Despite Maryland's potent offense, the game turned into a classic Big Ten rock fight. The Terps drew first blood on a Daniel Kelly goal at the 11:52 mark of the first quarter. Just over five minutes later, redshirt freshman Colin Zeller faked out his defender and fired the ball past Maryland goalie Logan McNaney to even the score up, 1-1. At the 2:49 mark, Duke Richman trickled a shot under McNaney, putting the Knights ahead, 2-1. The Knights added three more goals in the quarter to jump out to a quick 5-1 advantage.
Maryland shut out Rutgers in the second period, countering with two goals of their own to trim the Knights' advantage to 5-3 heading into the half. The second half started slow, with both teams going through extended scoring droughts. Rutgers finally found the back of the net in the third quarter on redshirt freshman Hayden Sommer's goal with 2:01 remaining, ending a 25-minute scoreless drought.
The potent Terps responded with two quick goals at the end of the third quarter, having all the momentum and trailing by only a goal heading into the final frame. The final quarter turned into a battle of attrition, with both squads clamping down on defense.
With under five minutes remaining, Maryland employed a ten-man ride and when the Rutgers defense made another stop, keeper Stoller called for the ball and fired a long shot downfield toward an empty net and scored, pushing the Knights' lead to 7-5. Each team added one more goal, with Rutgers coming away with a hard-earned 8-6 result.
It's been an up-and-down season for the Scarlet Knights, who have come up short against top-ten foes in Army, Princeton, and Ohio State. On this night, the tables were turned, as Maryland dominated in shots, 40-28, and ground balls, 31-17, but couldn't solve the Rutgers defense and Stoller.
In the end, No. 92 Stoller was the best player on the field. His final stat line read 14 saves and only six goals allowed. Add a goal, four ground balls, and a caused turnover, and you have a recipe for taking down No. 2.
"That was an amazing feeling, as a Maryland native, to do that against the team I grew up watching, to score that goal, it was unbelievable. We gave a full sixty-minute effort, from defense to offense," Stoller told the media following the game.
With the win, Rutgers evens its record at 6-6 (2-1) and moves into this week's polls at No. 18, while Maryland drops to 8-2 (1-2). Rutgers hosts Michigan for the final home game of the season on April 13th at 12:00 p.m.
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John Catapano graduated from Rutgers in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism, covering the women’s field hockey and soccer teams for the campus paper, The Daily Targum. After college, he moved to Los Angeles, got a job at Walt Disney Television, and has worked in media ever since. John currently works with the Wasserman Media Group in their Brooklyn, NY office, collaborating with brands, influencers, and athletes across the globe. When the pandemic struck in 2020 and Catapano began working remotely, he resumed writing by contributing to a Rutgers fan blog. He covered various sports, highlighted human interest stories, and focused on topics that Scarlet Nation wanted to discuss. It’s never easy being a Rutgers fan, but with over 500,000 alumni living worldwide and a passionate fanbase, covering the Scarlet Knights is always engaging.