PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 16 Rutgers men's lacrosse hosts a massive non-conference game Sunday afternoon when the program welcomes No. 12 Syracuse for a 1 p.m. contest.The Scarlet Knights (5-2) will face their old conference rival Syracuse (3-2) for the first time since 2013. Tickets are available
here.
"The Syracuse game is a huge non-conference game," head coach
Brian Brecht said. "They are one of the most storied and tradition rich programs in our sport. We have great momentum coming in to that matchup coming off a road win against a ranked Lehigh team. To have them at home is great for our alumni and exciting for lacrosse in New Jersey."
Sunday will be Youth Lacrosse Day, as any youths 8
th grade and younger wearing their youth lacrosse jersey will receive free admission. The game will be streamed live on BTN Plus. There will be three radio broadcasts options – LacrosseTalkRadio.com and two Syracuse stations, TK99/105 and WAER.
Wednesday night, Rutgers downed No. 17 Lehigh 8-7 on the road behind five points from
Kieran Mullins and a game-winning goal from
Jules Heningburg with four minutes to play. With the victory, RU is now 9-7 in their last 16 games against ranked foes.
Rutgers is led offensively by
Jules Heningburg, who ranks fourth in the NCAA with 34 points and sixth in the NCAA with 18 assists. Mullins has come on strong with 11 points in his past two games. Midfielder
Christian Mazzone, who has four consecutive multi-goal games, shares second on the team with Mullins with 12 goals on the season. Midfielder
Casey Rose is fourth with 11 tallies.
RU's scoring defense ranks 19
th in the nation with 8.71 goals-per-game allowed. Long-stick midfielders
Kyle Pless and
Garrett Michaeli share the team lead with 20 ground balls, with Michaeli adding a team-high eight caused turnovers. Returning All-American defenseman
Michael Rexrode has 14 ground balls and four caused turnovers, flanked on the back line by senior
Alex Bronzo and redshirt freshman
Garrett Bullett. Goalkeeper
Max Edelmann boats an 8.68 goals-against-average and .508 save percentage.
The Orange are 3-2 on the year, with two ranked wins (11-10 in three overtimes over No. 9 Army, 12-11 at No. 5 Virginia) and two losses to ranked teams (15-3 to No. 3 Albany, 18-7 to No. 15 Johns Hopkins). The team ranks 9
th in the nation with just 11.2 turnovers per game. Cuse is coming off a 13-3 season where they made their 10
th consecutive NCAA Tournament. The Orange graduated their top three point-scorers from last season along with their top FOGO and leader in caused turnovers.
Offensively, Syracuse has a quartet of players with double-digit points, led by Stephen Rehfuss with 12. Jamie Trimboli has the team lead with nine goals. Dan Varello has 17 ground balls and is 48-of-92 (.521) on faceoffs. In goal, Dom Madonna has a 11.83 goals-against-average and .430 save percentage. Syracuse has three players on the Tewaaraton Award Watch List, Brendan Bomberry (six goals, five assists), Nate Solomon (five goals, five assists) and Nick Mellen on defense.
RU has faced Syracuse 50 times lifetime, winning nine. The former Big East Conference rivals met every year from 1979 through 2013. The last win over the Orange came in 2004, a 14-10 victory over then No. 4 Syracuse, but Syracuse has taken the past eight matchups. This is the first meeting in Piscataway since 2010. This is the first ever game between the two at High Point Solutions Stadium, and the fifth different location in the past five games (two games at neutral sites).
Follow Rutgers Athletics on Facebook (
www.facebook.com/RutgersAthletics) and Twitter (
@RUAthletics) for all of the latest news and updates. For specific updates regarding Rutgers men's lacrosse, follow the program and Brecht on Twitter (
@RUMLax and
@RUlaxCoach) and
Facebook. Fans can receive timely information, including special offers and giveaways throughout the year on our social media outlets along with
www.ScarletKnights.com.
