NAPLES, Fla. --- The tension in the Paradise Sports Athletics Complex was at an all-time high. Nothing could separate the Jacksonville Dolphins and No. 18 Rutgers Scarlet Knights through four quarters of play.
In the end, though, the Dolphins fell 11-10 in overtime to open the 2026 lacrosse season. Jacksonville (0-1) JU had six players on the score sheet, with seniors
Jack Taylor and
Tate Jones each recording four points.
Taylor got the scoring going with a miraculous first-quarter effort. With the shot-clock winding down, Jones launched the ball to the crease. Taylor snatched the ball through traffic and fired a shot past the net-minder to put the Dolphins in front early in the first.
The Scarlet Knights answered with three-straight goals. Jacksonville turned to its transition game to get back on the board, with senior midfielder
Breyden Harrison leading the break before dishing it off to sophomore
Daylin John-Hill for his first goal of the season.
After another Rutgers goal, Jones scored his first goal in JU green off an assist from freshman
Zane Czeschin --- the first point of his college career. Most of the quarter was a defensive struggle, with neither team scoring in the final 4:18 of the quarter.
Senior
Nicky Brown tied things up for Jacksonville early in the second off another assist from Jones. After nearly 10 minutes of scoreless lacrosse, the Scarlet Knights broke the deadlock with 4:57 left in the half.
Rutgers would add two more before the break, but the Dolphins still only trailed by three at the intermission. Taylor got his second to open the second half to cut the deficit to two, then he turned provider to find the rookie Czeschin to make it a one-goal game.
The comeback was complete off another breakaway opportunity. Senior defenseman
Aaron Toguri forced a turnover, and Harrison got the ball and a head of steam coming across the field. He fired away for his first goal and second point of the day, tying the game at seven.
The run wasn't over for the Dolphins though. Jones slowly battled with his defender, finding a small alley down the left side. He fired a shot high over his head and put it past to goalie to give JU its first lead since the first goal of the game.
Graduate student goalie Ryan Della Rocca battled hard, making three more saves en route to a 17-save performance. The Scarlet Knights broke the seal, though, scoring two goals to re-take the lead heading into the final quarter.
Rutgers made it three goals on the bounce, taking a 10-8 lead early in the fourth. The Dolphins would have their response, though.
John-Hill buried his second off the day off another feed from Czeschin, making it a one-goal game. In crunch time, Jacksonville leaned on its stars. John-HIll found Taylor on the righty wing. The senior shook off his defender and buried a shot to tie the score at 10.
The final four minutes were played without a goal. The Dolphins nearly broke the seal late, though. Senior
Bryce Wojnovich forced a turnover with under two minutes to play, and pushed the ball in transition to trap a Rutgers attack on defense.
With the Scarlet Knights sliding on defense, the ball found Wojnovich wide-open up top. The senior's shot was denied by the Rutgers net-minder, though, keeping the score tied and taking the game to overtime.
The Dolphins forced an early high shot to open overtime, but the ball stayed with the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers capitalized, scoring the game-winner.
Game Notes
- Della Rocco's 17 saves are his most since he made 19 stops in JU's 11-9 win over High Point last season.
- Taylor recorded the 12th hat-trick of his career.
- Czeschin is the first JU freshman with at least three points in the season opener since Bo BowHunter in 2019.
- The Dolphins went 14-24 from the face-off stripe (58.3%). In addition to junior Drew Rippeon's 13 wins, freshman Sean Hassis recorded his first win at the stripe.
Head Coach John Galloway
Opening Statement
"I continue to come back to the effort, the fight. We went down three goals, but I felt like we were in it the entire day, and we didn't flinch emotionally. We have to learn how to finish these games, but this is gonna be one of those experiences that we'll be able to carry with us throughout the season:
On new faces making an impact
"A lot of young guys: Zane, starting at the attack as a freshman,
Josh Hedderich on the defensive end, Graham Maloney,
Parker Addison,
Kai Smith out of the midfield. We're playing a lot of new faces, but that's certainly no excuse. It's an opportunity for them to gain game emotions and be able to carry that over into a special opportunity next week."
On opportunities from a strong performance
"As I said to the guys, there's a lot of pride in what we showed, but there's also a lot of disappointment, and that's okay. I think that's exactly what you want to be at this time of year. Even if we won, there's so many things that we need to address. But there's great pride in how we carry ourselves, and I do believe we're gonna be able to put our head down to the pillow tonight proud of the effort, but willing to get back to work on Monday morning."
Up Next
The Dolphins will travel to face the No. 8 North Carolina Tar Heels next Saturday. This is the second-consecutive year Jacksonville is making a trip to Chapel Hill to face the Tar Heels. Opening faceoff is scheduled for noon on Saturday, Feb. 7.
