A brigade of players on the sideline exploded into cheers while hoisting their sticks upward as they swarmed towards the field at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium.

Senior attackman Matt Schultz’s go-ahead behind the back diving goal in the second quarter, Schultz’s third of the night, sent the Seawolves into a frenzy and ignited a dominant second half for the No. 18 Stony Brook Men’s Lacrosse team that eventually culminated in a 15-6 win against No. 16 Rutgers on Friday night.

“[It] was just a pure hustle goal by four or five guys,” head coach Jim Nagle said. “Bodies flying everywhere … those are the kind of plays that can spark a team.”

Rutgers began the game strongly. Three minutes into the first quarter, junior attackman Christian Trasolini capitalized on a man-up opportunity after Stony Brook senior defenseman Dylan Curry was called for a push penalty. A minute later, Trasolini found the cage again, this time via a flick to the lower left corner while trailing left.

After multiple Scarlet Knight shots hit pipe and one goal was called off for a crease violation, the Seawolves limited the damage in what otherwise could have proved a blowout first quarter and entered the second down 3-1.

“Rutgers had a good game plan coming in, and they were all over us,” Nagle said. “They did some things offensively that we needed some time to adjust to.”

Coming off a late first quarter goal that put his team on the scoreboard, Schultz struck again early in the second. Following a groundball scrum that created space, something scarce in a defensively driven first half, the senior faked out a defender to produce a diving shoveled-in goal.

Schultz would soon find fellow senior attackman Brody Eastwood cutting at the top of the crease for the tying goal, putting the game at three apiece.

Schultz would follow with his third goal of the game. Not long after, junior midfielder and team-scoring leader Alex Corpolongo would respond with a successful bounce shot to the bottom corner of the cage to cap off a 5-0 run for Stony Brook, which entered the locker room with a 5-3 lead.

The second half belonged entirely to the Seawolves.

Schultz, who ended the night with four goals and three assists, would spearhead a third quarter onslaught in which Stony Brook would go on to outscore Rutgers 7-2 on double the amount of shot attempts.

“You definitely feel the momentum swing our way,” Schultz said. “It feels good to have everything start clicking.”

The Seawolves had possession throughout most of their seven goal third quarter, in large part due to a stifling defense that helped account for 12 ground balls to Rutgers’ two.

Eastwood, who is on pace to break the school’s career goals record, would use this contest to rekindle old habits. After being held to just two goals in the previous three games, the British Columbian broke out with a hat trick and an assist.

“I know he’s felt that he hasn’t been playing too well and he hasn’t been shooting great,” Schultz said of his teammate. “Teams are trying to lock him down all the time and just to get him goals and to see him get rewarded is awesome.”

Rutgers’ own scoring specialist in redshirt freshman attackman Adam Charalambides, who netted 17 goals in five games, did not fare as well. Stony Brook limited Charalambides to a two-goal, one-assist night, falling well below Charalambides’ game averages.

“He’s a talented player,” Nagle said. “He’s real strong in his strong hand and maybe we underestimated it, or had to get used to it. And once we did — guys started to get up on his strong hand — we were able to kind of neutralize him a little.”

Corpolongo found the back of the cage four times, bringing his season goal total to 15. Senior midfielder Chris Hughes added a pair of scores of his own.

Senior midfielder Challen Rogers raised his team-leading assist total to 12 with a two-dish night.

After feeding an open Corpolongo in the fourth quarter, freshman midfielder Owen Daly recorded the first collegiate point of his young career.

The Seawolves host the No. 13 Hofstra Pride Tuesday night for the first Long Island matchup since 2009.

“I’m pretty pumped about it,” Schultz said. “A Long Island rivalry I think is awesome. Everybody is fired up.”