HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – The third-seeded University of Pennsylvania men's lacrosse team battled sixth-seeded Rutgers to a stalemate through three quarters in an NCAA Championship quarterfinal on Saturday, but the Scarlet Knights scored five straight goals in the fourth quarter to come back on the Quakers and win 11-9.
 
With the victory, Rutgers is now 15-3 on the season and advances to Championship Weekend and a semifinal meeting with either Cornell or Delaware.
 
Penn's season ends at 11-5.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*The loss snapped a seven-game win streak for Penn.
 
*This was Penn's second straight trip to the NCAA quarterfinal round; the Quakers made it in 2019, there was no 2020 Championship, and the Ivy League did not participate in the 2021 Championship.
 
*Penn held one lead on Saturday; that came early in the fourth quarter when the Quakers scored twice to go up 8-6. That was the end of a four-goal run by the Quakers.
 
*From there, Rutgers scored five goals over an 8:15 span which created the biggest margin of this game at 11-8.
 
*Penn was held to single digits on the scoreboard for just the third time this season and the first time in more than two months; the Quakers had eight in their season opener against Georgetown (a 10-8 loss) and an 8-7 win over Villanova on March 12.
 
*Senior Dylan Gergar led Penn's attack with four goals and an assist for five points. It was his eighth game this season with at least five points.
 
*Gergar ended the season with 52 goals, finishing second on Penn's single-season list behind his former teammate Adam Goldner (56 in 2019).
 
*The only other player with multiple points was senior Sam Handley, who had three assists but was held without a goal for the first time this season.
 
*Handley ended the season with 37 assists, which is third on Penn's single-season chart behind Kenneth Kirtz (46 in 1954) and Peter Hollis (41 in 1977).
 
*Handley also finished the season with 73 points, two off the single-season standard set by Hollis (75 in 1977); Gergar moved into third on that list, with 69 points.
 
*After going for multiple points in six straight games and seven of the last eight, Ben Smith was held to an assist on Saturday.
 
*Gabe Furey had a goal on Saturday, but it was his only point after he had gone for multiple points in seven of the last eight contests.
 
*After missing most of the last two games to injury, junior James Shipley got regular run on Saturday and had an assist. He was goalless but put four of his seven shots on goal.
 
*Cam Rubin and Jack Schultz also scored for Penn, their 21st and 15th goals this season respectively.
 
*On a day when the heat was excessive and depth was at a premium, two Penn players scored their first goals of the season: junior Robert Schain and freshman Chris Canet; for Canet it was his first collegiate tally.
 
*Schain and Canet became the 17th and 18th different Penn players to score this season.
 
*Senior Patrick Burkinshaw made 14 saves on the day, 11 of them coming in the first half to keep the Quakers in it. In four postseason games he had a 62.5 save percentage (65 saves, 39 goals allowed).
 
How It Happened
It took awhile for the teams to get the scoring started on Saturday, more than 10 minutes passing before Rutgers' Ross Scott opened things up. More than two minutes went by after that before Shane Knobloch scored, and the Scarlet Knights were up 2-0 after the first quarter.
 
After being held scoreless in the first quarter for the first time this season, Penn finally got on the board 1:12 into the second quarter when Furey finished a cross-field pass from Gergar in a man-up opportunity. Rubin then finished a Handley feed with a howitzer to make it 2-2 with 11:48 left in the half. Rutgers went back in front when Ronan Jacoby took advantage of his defenseman falling, going with a low-angle underhand shot that tucked inside the far post, but right off the ensuing faceoff Schultz went solo, beating his man and slamming it home to make it 3-3.
 
Rutgers again went in front, 4-3, when Penn fell asleep on defense and Cole Daninger found Ethan Rall in front. The long-pole senior converted, a man-down goal that sent the teams to the second-quarter media timeout. Penn tied it in the final minute when Handley fed across the defense to Gergar, who rifled it home. It was 4-4 at halftime.
 
Former Penn captain Mitch Bartolo opened the second-half scoring against his former mates, putting the Scarlet Knights up 5-4, and nearly seven scoreless minutes went by before Zackary Franckowiak made it a two-goal game with a worm-burner from 12 yards out. Gergar got one of them back after he took a feed from Handley, dodged his man and get in front for the dunk, then Schain opened his 2022 account to tie it at 6-6 after three quarters.
 
Canet picked a good time to score his first collegiate goal, coming around the crease and dunking a feed from Shipley at the doorstep to give Penn its first lead of the day at 7-6. 1:37 after that, it was Gergar dunking on the doorstep off a feed from Smith who was behind the goal.
 
After that, though, it was all Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights cut the margin to one on a Knobloch goal with 9:19 left, and just 24 seconds later Bartolo was netting his second to tie things at 8-8. More than three minutes went by before RU broke the tie. Knobloch made it 10-8 with 3:39 left, and long pole Bryant Boswell made it a three-goal game with 1:04 left.
 
At the other end, RU keeper Colin Kirst was massive, making six straight saves as Penn took 10 shots without converting. The Quakers finally ended a scoreless streak of 11:09 when Gergar finished a Handley feed, then they made things interesting by winning the ensuing faceoff. However, two more possessions were fruitless and the Knights were able to run out the final few seconds.