Rutgers came out strong, defeating Stevens 5-1 on Friday night. Sam Gankin opened the scoring in the first period, giving Rutgers an early 1-0 lead. In the second, Mateo Nunez extended the lead with assists from Gavin Rieger and Tim Downes to make it 2-0.Stevens responded in the third period with a goal from Alex Carey, assisted by Kavin McNamara, cutting the deficit to 2-1. However, Rutgers quickly took control. Nikita Gorshkov scored twice in the third, including one assisted by Jamie Zimmerman, and Jacob Campbell added another to seal the 5-1 win.Aaron Rodrigues was solid in net for Rutgers, stopping 26 of 27 shots. On the other side, Jack Cozine faced heavy pressure, making 40 saves on 45 shots.Rutgers' depth and third-period surge proved to be the difference as they pulled away late to secure the conference win.