Men's Lacrosse Kicks Off 2008 Season Against UMBC
Feb 22 | Men's Lacrosse
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers men's lacrosse team will kick off its 2008 campaign against No. 19 UMBC Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. The game, originally scheduled for Saturday at noon, will be played at the RU Turf Field.
The Scarlet Knights enter the season with high hopes as the 2007 squad ended the year ranked No. 18 in the USILA Poll and No. 19 in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Poll. RU posted a 7-6 record overall and went 4-3 in ECAC play. Additionally, the Scarlet Knights went 4-0 in one-goal games and matched up against four nationally ranked teams.
The 2008 squad will be led by last year's ECAC Rookie of the Year and preseason all-conference selection Justin Pennington (Flemington, N.J.). The sophomore is the team's leading returner in goals, assists, points and groundballs. One the defensive side of the field, RU returns Inside Lacrosse third-team All-America pick, Chris O'Dougherty (Kinnelon, N.J.). The junior was a second-team All-ECAC selection in 2007.
UMBC (0-1) opened its season last Saturday with a 15-7 loss to nationally ranked Delaware. Junior Ryan Smith led the way for the Retrievers with three goals in the loss.
Rutgers leads the all-time series with UMBC 7-4. The two teams have not met since RU picked up a 12-11 overtime victory in the 2003 season.
