The No. 19 Massachusetts men’s lacrosse team stormed into Piscataway, New Jersey, to face off against Rutgers, a matchup that has seen contests in three consecutive seasons, with the Scarlet Knights (4-5) taking the previous two matchups. This time, the Minutemen (6-1) took advantage of their young offensive core, winning 11-7.
UMass cashed in on key performances from Matthew Cargiulo, Robbie Granara and Aiden Drunsic, with the trio combining for nine of the team’s 10 goals. The dynamic Minuteman offense received help from the team’s leading goal scorer Trace Hogan, who was credited with assists on three goals.
The second half belonged to the UMass.
Cargiulo recorded the first hat trick of his collegiate career with goals in the first, second and third periods. The most important came in the third.
With time expiring in the third period and two seconds on the clock, Cargiulo stormed down the field after the Minutemen defense successfully pressured the Scarlet Knights into their sixth shot clock violation of the game. Cargiulo rifled a shot from beyond the Rutgers logo, and when the ball entered the back of the net, UMass had its first lead since the opening minutes of the first period, setting the score at 7-6.
The name of the game on Saturday was solid defense. The UMass defense forced the Scarlet Knights’ attack into six turnovers off shot clock violations alone. The defense was reinforced by the consistent play of freshman goaltender Owen Salanger, who chalked up 13 saves, stopping the barrage of 35 shots from Rutgers.
On the Scarlet Knights’ side, goaltender Cardin Stoller had an equally impressive showing, making 13 saves, including a sequence where, from the seat of his pants, he blocked off an onslaught of shots from the Minutemen.
UMass started the scoring three minutes into the first period. With a man up, the Minuteman attack applied pressure to the Rutgers zone, forcing the Scarlet Knights to split coverage and allowing Cargiulo to unleash a scorching shot from the middle of the attack zone.
Rutgers quickly responded with a steal at the logo from midfielder Justin Lawler and a quick pass to the team’s leading goal scorer Colin Kurdyla, followed by a frozen rope that passed by the outstretched Salanger, knotting up the game.
The first half of the game was all Rutgers. In the first period, the Scarlet Knights won six consecutive faceoffs and piled on four unanswered goals, building a 4-1 lead over UMass. The second goal of the afternoon was scored by Duke Richman II for Rutgers, the first of his NCAA career.
With three minutes left in the second period, Salanger left the crease and received a pass from Chance Cook. Salanger lined up a shot and attempted a chance at a rare goalie goal, an attempt that was thwarted by defenseman Ben McKelvy.
The uncredited save led to a Rutgers attack in Minutemen territory. Haydn Sommer drove down the field and made a high bullet pass to Kurdyla. The sophomore loaded up and put Rutgers up by two heading into the second half.
At the start of the fourth period, UMass stormed out onto the field, ramped up off of Salanger’s third period shut out of the Scarlet Knights’ offense. The team used the momentum and scored three consecutive goals, all coming within minutes of each other, with one final goal being scored by Drunsic when Rutgers pulled their goalie.
The Minutemen’s win was their first against Rutgers since May of 2009.
UMass will look to expand on Saturday’s win and continue its six-game win streak heading into its matchup against UMass Lowell on Tuesday, March 18. Faceoff is slated for 3 p.m.
Dominic Proietti can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter/X @yettifilms_.
