(Photo Courtesy of Rutgers Athletics)
Ross Scott came off a pick from behind, ran right past the short-stick who jumped out on him, curled the cage, and put one past Skyler Wahlund to tie things at 4. Just 15 seconds later, Mitch Bartolo put an exclamation point on fast-paced sequence off the faceoff to give Rutgers their first lead of the game, 5-4.
From that point forward, Brian Brecht’s squad would never trail again and both the Rutgers NASCAR offense would rev all the way up with Scott and Bartolo being two of its primary beneficiaries.
Scott ended the day with seven points off three goals and four assists while Bartolo ended with four goals. The duo combined for five goals in the second half alone as the Scarlet Knights’ offense as they caught fire in the final two quarters, outscoring the Buckeyes 10-2, en route to an 18-7 victory that proved who the second-best team in the Big Ten is.
Jonathan Dugenio proved to be a catalyst for the Scarlet Knights on Sunday, going 15-for-26 (57%) on the day. Additionally, Colin Kirst anchored the Rutgers defense with 12 saves while Zackary Franckowiak was stellar at the LSM spot, causing two turnovers, grabbing three ground balls, and notching two points (1G/1A) as he helped spear-head that transition offense.
In part due to six first-quarter turnovers from the Scarlet Knights, Ohio State was able to take an early 3-0 lead with Scott White, Jackson Reid, and Ari Allen each finding the back of the net. And while they kept things close for most of the first half, once Rutgers took that 6-5 lead late in the second quarter, the Buckeyes were never able to get back into the game.
A Trent DiCicco score off a Colby Smith feed at the 11:34 mark in the third cut the Scarlet Knights lead to three, 9-6. That’s the closest the Buckeyes got in the second half as Rutgers continued their dominance.
Smith ended the day with two goals and one assist to lead the way for Ohio State.
Maryland 18, Penn State 7
In the first Big Ten Sunday Night contest of the season, the Maryland Terrapins rolled through the Penn State Nittany Lions.
A pair of goal from Mark Sickler and Will Peden cut the Nittany Lions’ lead to two, 5-3, in the second quarter, but that was as close as the host team would come to giving Terrapins any trouble. Maryland started the game on a 4-0 run and from the 6:31 mark in the second through the end of the third quarter, scored 13 unanswered goals to pull away 18-3.
Mac Costin and Grant Haus each scored once in the fourth quarter for Penn State. Nils Barry had two goals.
Logan Wisnauskas (1G/4A), Eric Malever (3G/2A), and Keegan Khan (4G/1A) each had five points to lead Maryland. Luke Wierman went 16-for-21 at the dot.
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