RUTGERS 12 – OHIO STATE 10
There is more reason to celebrate on the banks of the Raritan. The Rutgers Men’s Lacrosse team is moving on to the Big Ten Championship Game, Saturday night against Maryland after squeaking past Ohio State 12-10 on Thursday night.
“I’m so happy and proud of our guys to get this win and have a chance to play in the Big Ten championship game,” Head Coach Brian Brecht said. “Our guys kept grinding and chipping away. We showed up to work on Monday and had a great week of practice, travelled well down to Maryland. The more we focus on what we’re good at, the more success we’re going to have, and we’ve been playing pretty good lacrosse this year.”
We’re heading to the @B1GLacrosse Championship‼️#RUMLax is back in the Big Ten Title Game for the first time since 2016 pic.twitter.com/HF8yJizmPR
— Rutgers Men's LAX (@RUmlax) May 6, 2022
Rutgers found itself down 8-5 with 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter, setting the stage for another spirited comeback.
Have a second half Mitch Bartolo!!
— Rutgers Men's LAX (@RUmlax) May 6, 2022
Mitch with his fourth goal since halftime, #RUMLax on a 6-0 run for an 11-8 lead pic.twitter.com/HCwLIlsZls
Mitch Bartolo, who had been unusually silent in the first half of the game, caught fire in the third quarter, scoring four of Rutgers’ final seven goals in the late stages. He scored on the first goal of the comeback with 6:36 to go in the third that cut the deficit down to 8-6. With 2:39 to go in the third, Bartolo would tie it up at eight, and moments later, he gave Rutgers the lead on a pair of goals with assists from Shane Knobloch.
Huge performance from Mitch Bartolo. who scored 4 goals to lead #RUMLax, and all 4 came in the second half.
— Rutgers Men's LAX (@RUmlax) May 6, 2022
After the game, Mitch broke it down for @BigTenNetwork with @DixonLacrosse and @PeteMedhurst pic.twitter.com/0QPBogoTzD
Knobloch and Bartolo would go back-to-back on goals in the early stages of the fourth quarter to push the Rutgers lead out to 11-8.
After Ed Shean brought Ohio State to within two scores with his fifth netter of the year, Ross Scott put the game away for Rutgers with 2:02 to go, nailing the unassisted goal to give Rutgers a 12-9 lead.
Overall, Bartolo finished the night with four goals, while Scott finished with three goals and an assist, and Ronan Jacoby finished with three goals.
According to ScarletKnights.com, “Rutgers has now defeated Ohio State seven straight times, improving to 13-3 all-time versus the Buckeyes and 7-1 since the two teams became conference foes in 2015. The win was RU’s fourth win over a nationally ranked team this season, previously defeating No. 8/9 Ohio State, No. 10/12 Army and No. 19/20 Loyola. RU improves to 4-2 on the season against ranked teams and 9-5 in the last two seasons against ranked foes. The win is Rutgers’ second ever Big Ten Tournament victory, and first since a 14-12 win over Johns Hopkins in 2016.”