PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 7 Rutgers men's lacrosse continues its season with a second straight home contest to start the season, as the team hosts regional rival St. John's at 1 pm Saturday. The Scarlet Knights will seek to win their fifth straight game against the Red Storm. The game will be streamed by BTN Plus, with Lou Brogno and Rick Mercurio on the call. The giveaway will be Rutgers lacrosse winter hats. 

RU opened the season last week on Feb. 3, the earliest start in program history, as the Scarlet Knights downed Robert Morris 11-7. Jules Heningburg led the team with six points, and was named to the USILA Division I Team of the Week, while Garrett Michaeli had five ground balls en route to being named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week. Christian Trasolini, playing in his first game since 2016 after taking an injury redshirt season last year, returned to the lineup with a hat trick. Christian Mazzone had two goals and two assists, while Casey Rose also chipped in two tallies.

St. John's will be playing its first game of the season. Last year, the team compiled a 1-13 record. The Red Storm have compiled a 6-36 record over the past three seasons. The team returns its top scorer in Joe Madsen (20 goals, 25 points), as well as Colin Duffy (12 goals). Defenseman Pat Smyth was named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team.

St. John's is coached by Jason Miller, who is in his 12th season. Miller and Rutgers coach Brian Brecht each attended Springfield College, overlapping for two years. Brecht is 4-2 against Miller since the two assumed their current positions. 

Rutgers holds a 20-7 lifetime advantage over St. John's. RU has won the last four straight games since the resumption of the series following the Scarlet Knights move from the BIG EAST, where the pair used to play annually as conference rivals. Last season, RU earned a 16-8 road win behind four goals from Jules Heningburg and two tallies apiece from returners Kieran Mullins and Casey Rose.