PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men's lacrosse battled with a ranked team at home on Saturday afternoon to close out the non-conference slate. The Scarlet Knights fell by an 11-7 final score to No. 19 UMass in front of 1,224 fans at SHI Stadium. Rutgers fell to 4-5 while UMass improved to 6-1 on the season.

UMass had the advantage on shots (40-35), but Rutgers earned a 33-21 ground ball margin. Rutgers won 12-of-20 faceoffs (with Ethan Barnard going 6-of-8) and each team made 13 saves. RU had 18 turnovers to UMass' 12, and saw the Gorillas go 3-of-4 on the extra-man while RU was 0-of-3.

Colin Kurdyla was the lone multi-goal scorer for RU. Shane Murphy, Colin Kelly, Joe Juengerkes, Duke Richman and Dean Scalamandre all had a goal apiece. Ben Stephanos had two caused turnovers and Cardin Stoller had 13 saves.

Aiden Drunsic had four goals for UMass, while Matthew Cargiulo added three.

The game was a tight battle throughout before the visitors pulled away down the stretch in the second half. Rutgers had the better of play in the opening half. RU had a 4-1 lead after the first 11 minutes, and led 5-2 early in the second quarter. At halftime, the Scarlet Knights led 6-4.

In the second half, UMass turned the tables. The Gorillas scored the only three goals in the third quarter, taking a 7-6 lead into the fourth quarter. Shane Murphy scored in the opening minute of the final frame, putting RU back even at 7-7. However, UMass had the final four goals of the game, including a three-goal in 1:23 stretch midway though the final quarter to earn the 11-7 final advantage. After RU took a 6-4 lead with 2:18 to play in the second quarter, UMass outscored the home team by a 7-1 margin over the final 32 minutes of action, and had a 9-2 closing stretch overall across the final 44 minutes of the contest.

The game closed out the non-conference slate for RU, with Big Ten play on the horizon. Next week, RU opens league play in Baltimore against No. 11 Johns Hopkins (Saturday, 1 pm).