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Max Edelmann made a career-high 18 saves, including one with six seconds remaining, as No. 18 Rutgers defeated Princeton 9-8 to claim the Meistrell Cup and New Jersey bragging rights for the second time in the last three seasons.

The Scarlet Knights (4-2) did not score in the second half, but Edelmann made sure that did not matter.

“That was the highlight of my career, being able to get the cup back to Rutgers and take it away from Princeton,” said Edelmann, a redshirt senior. “Making the save at the end of the game, that's a moment you like as a goalie.”

A 6-1 run in the second quarter staked Rutgers to a 9-3 lead at halftime.

Princeton (2-3), coming off an impressive victory Tuesday at Navy in which the Tigers poured in 19 goals, struggled to establish a similar rhythm on offense Saturday. They shot just 8-for-46, clawing their way back to within one goal when Chris Brown’s third tally of the day made it 9-8 with 2:24 remaining.

Edelmann denied Charlie Durbin with six seconds left to preserve the Rutgers victory.

PHOTO BY RICH BARNES

SYRACUSE ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF FOURTH-QUARTER RUN

A week after coughing up a four-goal lead late against Virginia, No. 19 Syracuse turned the tables on No. 14 Johns Hopkins, outscoring the Blue Jays 6-1 in the fourth quarter en route to a 14-10 victory Saturday at the Carrier Dome.

Jacob Buttermore scored three goals and Drake Porter made 13 saves, including eight in the third quarter, for the Orange (3-2).

Johns Hopkins (2-3) jumped out to a 5-1 lead, but the momentum shifted late in the first quarter. Syracuse scored two goals in the final 1:39 of the frame, including a behind-the-back finish by Bradley Voigt with 5 seconds left.

The Blue Jays were able to stay a step ahead of the Orange until a fourth-quarter unraveling, highlighted by two Syracuse goals just 12 seconds apart. After Buttermore gave the Orange their first lead of the game at 10-9 with 10:46 remaining, Syracuse won the ensuing faceoff, and long-stick midfielder Brett Kennedy ripped a shot from deep that beat Johns Hopkins goalie Ryan Darby (18 saves) to make it 11-9.

The Orange never looked back from there.

“We got the lead in the fourth quarter and a week ago, we had it and we didn't finish it,” Syracuse coach John Desko said. “It was nice to be in a similar situation and put it away.”

PHOTO BY GREG WALL

MARYLAND REBOUNDS WITH WIN AT ALBANY

Coming off an overtime loss at Notre Dame and playing its third road game in as many weeks, No. 5 Maryland rode the hot hand of Jared Bernhardt (three goals, five assists) and a balanced offensive effort to a 14-9 victory Saturday over Albany.

A five-goal Maryland run at the end of the second quarter, punctuated by Bernhardt with six seconds remaining before halftime, staked the Terps to a 7-2 lead they would not relinquish.

Louis Dubick added a hat trick, and Logan Wisnauskas, Bubba Fairman and Anthony DeMaio scored two goals apiece for Maryland (6-1). Justin Shockey (12-for-20) and Austin Henningsen (5-for-7) combined to give the Terps a 17-10 edge on faceoffs.

Albany, playing without the embattled Tehoka Nanticoke for the second time in three games, fell to 1-4.

HIGH POINT SMASHES RECORDS

In case a 10-9 loss to St. John’s on Feb. 23 had you ready to write off High Point’s hot start as a fluke, the No. 11 Panthers have responded with a pair of impressive wins in which they have scored a combined 38 goals.

High Point, which got back on track with a 16-15 win over Robert Morris last week, bludgeoned UMBC 22-13 on Saturday. The Panthers (6-1) established new program records for goals (22), points (37) and faceoff wins (31) in the convincing victory.

Faceoff specialist Davis Sampere won 19 of 23 faceoffs, Chris Young scored seven goals and Asher Nolting finished with two goals and five assists.

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Notre Dame scored just two second half goals, but a strong first half carried the No. 8 Irish to a 10-7 win over No. 10 Denver in the Pacific Coast Shootout in Orange County, California. Bryan Costabile had three goals, including a key fourth quarter goal after Denver had pulled within 8-6. Matt Schmidt made 10 saves to earn the win.

  • Preseason darling Lehigh has responded to a 1-3 start with consecutive wins over nationally-ranked opponents to start its Patriot League slate. The latest: an 11-8 win Saturday over No. 17 Army. The Mountain Hawks (3-3, 2-0) used two separate four-goal runs and an 18-for-23 faceoff performance by Conor Gaffney to defeat the Black Knights (4-2, 1-1)

  • Ohio State just keeps winning. The No. 7 Buckeyes improved to 6-0 with a 14-8 win at Hofstra on Saturday, scoring 10 straight goals spanning the second and third quarters to pull away from the Pride (2-4). Freshman Jack Myers had three goals and three assists, while junior Tre Leclaire added four goals in the victory. With Cornell falling to Penn State on Friday night, only Ohio State and No. 1 Towson remain unbeaten among Division I teams.

  • Cleveland State’s stifling defense gave the fourth-year program its most impressive victory to date, as the Vikings defeated Marquette 7-5 on Saturday. Cleveland State moved to 3-4 with its second straight win. The Golden Eagles, who were ranked No. 20 in the preseason, fell to 2-3.

  • Griffin Brown scored three goals and added an assist, and Malcolm Feeney won 13 of 20 faceoffs to lead Colgate (3-2, 1-1) to a 9-7 win over Boston University (5-2, 0-1) in Patriot League action Saturday.

  • Utah is turning into quite the success story in its inaugural season. The Utes won their third straight game Saturday, defeating Bellarmine 10-9. All three wins have come by one goal, as Utah improved to 4-3. Josh Stout scored three goals and added an assist in the victory. Liam Donnelly made 12 saves.

Nike/US Lacrosse
Division I Men’s
Top 20 Scoreboard

No. 5 Maryland 14, Albany 9
No. 7 Ohio State 14, Hofstra 8
No. 8 Notre Dame 10, No. 10 Denver 7
No. 11 High Point 22, UMBC 13
No. 19 Syracuse 14, No. 14 Johns Hopkins 10
No. 15 Richmond 17, VMI 4
Lehigh 11, No. 17 Army 8
No. 18 Rutgers 9, Princeton 8
No. 20 Georgetown 19, Fairfield 6

Other Scores

Bucknell 10, Holy Cross 7
Colgate 9, Boston University 7
Cleveland State 7, Marquette 5
Delaware 10, Binghamton 6
Harvard 9, Providence 8
Hobart 17, Vermont 11
Navy 12, Lafayette 7
Quinnipiac 7, Wagner 6 (OT)
Sacred Heart 16, Hartford 12
Siena 18, St. John’s 10
Stony Brook 9, Bryant 8
UMass 19, NJIT 7
UMass-Lowell 8, Manhattan 5
Utah 10, Bellarmine 9