PISCATAWAY, N.J. — No. 2 Maryland men’s lacrosse entered Saturday on a 19-game winning streak against Rutgers, with only one loss to the Scarlet Knights in program history. The Terps appeared to have a chance for a comfortable win amid a grueling stretch of conference matchups.

But against the only unranked Big Ten team, they floundered. Rutgers struck for a five-goal first quarter and led for the final 47 minutes and 49 seconds, downing Maryland, 8-6, at SHI Stadium.

“We got to figure out, do we change what we’re doing [offensively],” coach John Tillman said. “This part of the year is [figuring out] do you need to tweak some things.”

The Scarlet Knights scored only once in the middle two quarters, but opened and closed fast.

Rutgers (6-6, 2-1 Big Ten) found openings instantly with persistent cutting and elusive one-on-one moves. Redshirt freshman midfielder Colin Zeller scored two of his three goals in the first quarter, while Colin Kurdyla scored his team-high 17th goal right before the buzzer.

The Scarlet Knights’ two-goal burst late in the fourth, the latter an open-net, full-field goal for goalkeeper Cardin Stoller, ended any chance of a Maryland (8-2, 1-2 Big Ten) comeback. The 2024 Big Ten Freshman of the Year saved 14 of 20 shots on goal.

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“Stoller is a very good goalie, and when we had some opportunities, he did a great job of shutting the door on us,” Tillman said. “I never felt like we really got into a real good flow … we just didn’t settle in and really get a good tempo going.”

Stoller’s counterpart, honorable mention All-American Logan McNaney, saved less than 50 percent of the looks against him for the second time in three games.

The graduate student anticipated better as the game progressed and his defense kept the ball on the outside, but McNaney’s poor start proved fatal. Maryland scored its fewest goals in a game this season, though it found immediate success in its half-field offense.

Fifth-year attacker Daniel Kelly, off a hat trick against Penn State, cut toward the circle and senior midfielder Zach Whittier found him uncovered. But that was the Terps’ lone score of the opening frame.

Maryland maintained possessions for longer in the second quarter, alleviating pressure from its reeling defense. Whittier ended a quarter-plus scoring drought after fellow-midfielder Bryce Ford found him from the X. The Terps’ passes went toward the middle, breaking down a Rutgers defense that succeeded in clogging that area initially.

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But Maryland failed to take full advantage of the Scarlet Knights only recording three shots in the frame. The Terps entered halftime down two and failed to score for the first 13 minutes of the third quarter.

Just after Rutgers finally snapped its quarter-plus scoring drought with its lone goal of the third period, Maryland answered.

Freshman Jonah Carrier won the faceoff and dashed down the middle, finding senior attacker Eric Spanos for an easy goal. Junior attacker Braden Erksa looped around the X and scored off a Jack Schultz feed just over a minute later to cut the deficit to 6-5 going into the fourth.

But the offense went lifeless in the final frame, eventually leading to one of the top defenses in the nation giving up multiple scores. The loss was Maryland’s first this season when holding an opponent to single-digit goals.

The Terps’ scoring droughts, a season-long problem, doomed them in a loss to an opponent they’ve dominated.

“You hold a team to eight goals, you should win that game,” Tillman said.