Men's Lacrosse Season Review
Jun 02 | Men's Lacrosse
Season Notes
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The 2015 Rutgers men's lacrosse season brought the Scarlet Knights into a new era, taking part in the inaugural season of Big Ten lacrosse. The Scarlet Knights compiled a 5-10 record, led by the performances of three all-conference selections and one All-American. The Scarlet Knights battled hard against a tough schedule that included six ranked opponents.
"I felt our team got better as the season went on," head coach Brian Brecht said. "The team grew with the experience of each week of practice. I am proud of how this group competed and fought in the many close one goal games we had against top-10 and top-20 programs."
YOUTH MOVEMENT
The Scarlet Knights were a young squad in 2015 with a strong group of underclassmen seeing significant action this season, which will help their development for the future. Rutgers brought in a talented 14-member freshman class and eight freshmen saw action in multiple games.
RU had one freshman hold a starting role in each of the position groups. Jules Heningburg started all 15 games on attack and scored 21 goals while assisting on eight. In conference play alone he tallied a team-leading 10 goals. Twice the Maplewood, N.J., native garnered Freshman of the Week honors from the Big Ten as he proved to be a dynamic attackman for years to come.
In the midfield, Chad Toliver earned a starting role after a three-goal performance against Wagner and started 10 games down the stretch. The Milton, Ga., native finished the season with 10 goals and five assists, and one Freshman of the Week recognition from the conference.
On defense, Michael Rexrode played at a high level for RU and was often charged with stopping the opponents' best attacker. Rexrode started all 11 games he played in, causing seven turnovers and collecting 21 ground balls.
Two sophomores also held down starting spots, as half of the starting lineup was comprised of underclassmen.
Christian Trasolini followed up an excellent freshman year with a strong sophomore campaign, finishing second on the team with 26 goals. Classmate Jeff George started on midfield in his first season in a Scarlet Knights' uniform, scoring 13 goals and adding nine assists.
B1G FINALE
April 25 was Senior Day, and Rutgers' seniors sent the season off with one of its biggest highlights. In the regular season finale, RU hosted No. 10 Ohio State. After playing the Buckeyes even through the first quarter, the Scarlet Knights exploded for a 7-0 run in the second quarter to take control of the game. After holding an 11-4 halftime lead, Rutgers closed out OSU for a 17-10 victory behind hat tricks from Brian Goss and Jules Heningburg and a six-point day from Scott Bieda. The victory was the first top-10 win for the program in 12 years, since the team defeated No. 3 UMass in 2003, and was the first ever Big Ten win.
NON-CONFERENCE VICTORIES
Rutgers picked up four wins in nonconference play. The Scarlet Knights got the season off to a good start in the opener, picking up a 10-8 win at St. John's. RU rallied from a 7-4 deficit in the third quarter, responding with five straight goals to close out the win. Christian Trasolini carried the offense, scoring four times and adding an assist.
Rutgers also earned victories over two local opponents in Wagner and NJIT. The Scarlet Knights downed Wagner 13-10, getting hat tricks from Trasolini, Goss and Chad Toliver. Against NJIT in the nonconference finale, Rutgers recorded a season-high 21 goals from nine different players, including five from Goss and four apiece from Bieda and Heningburg. The Scarlet Knights also grabbed a big road win at Delaware, downing the Blue Hens, 17-12. Scott Bieda led the team with five tallies that Saturday, while Trasolini scored four times.
AN ALL-AMERICAN
In his final year "On the Banks", two-time Rutgers captain Joe Nardella completed his RU career with a spectacular 2015 campaign. Nardella was one of the top players in the nation at the faceoff `X', winning 223 out of 333 faceoffs, a 67.0 winning percentage that was third in the nation. In addition to leading the team with 125 ground balls, he also scored six goals and added nine assists. Nardella was the 205th All-American in Rutgers' program history. He also earned recognition as a USILA Scholar All-American.
ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
Rutgers was well represented on the 2015 All-Big Ten Team and Individual Honors. Nardella was named Specialist of the Year, leading the conference in faceoff winning percentage (67 percent) and ground balls per game (8.33). The Cazenovia, N.Y., native was also named to the All-Big Ten First Team.
Scott Bieda was Rutgers' leading scorer on the year, pacing the team with 30 goals and 28 assists for 58 points. For his strong year he was named first team all-conference. The Bridgewater, N.J., native was second in the league with 1.87 assists per game and fourth in the conference with 2.00 goals per game and 3.87 points per game.
Zack Sikora was a valuable long-stick midfielder for the Scarlet Knights, contributing at both the defensive and offensive end. The Clifton, Va., native was second on the squad with 48 ground balls and caused eight turnovers. He also scored six goals and added two assists for eight points.
BIG TEN LACROSSE IS BIG TIME LACROSSE
While Rutgers spent its first season overall as a member of the Big Ten Conference, lacrosse season represented a brand new league. With the addition of Rutgers and Maryland to the conference, as well as Johns Hopkins as an affiliate member, the Big Ten sponsored lacrosse for the first time in the 2015 season.
In the inaugural year, Big Ten teams made a big splash on the national landscape. The Big Ten placed three teams (Johns Hopkins, Maryland, and Ohio State) into the NCAA Tournament. The trio advanced to the quarterfinal round, with Johns Hopkins and Maryland meeting up in the Final Four. The Terrapins were victorious in that game, and represented the league in the National Championship game, falling to Denver.
"The Big Ten certainly showed at the end of the year that from top to bottom each game was going to be highly competitive," Brecht said. "It was a grind of a season as we played a competitive schedule, and we noticeably improved and got better as the season went on.''
COMING BACK
The Scarlet Knights graduated nine seniors from the 2015 roster, including three captains in Nardella, Goss and defenseman Nick Capparelli. However, the team will bring back a lot of elite talent for next season.
RU returns 12 players who earned a start in 2015. Rutgers will also bring back 82 percent of its goal scoring and 83 percent of its total points from this season.
"With much of our scoring returning, the experience they had and the growth of a year under their belt, with the competition we played, will only help us for the future," Brecht said. "We had many young players and returning players from last year's playoff team play more significant roles for us this year. That experience and growth each week was very helpful in competing in all our Big Ten games and earning a top-10 win to end the season. Our players are excited for next year and the coaching staff is confident that the returning team will be working extremely hard in the off season to be a year better, and not just a year older."
