Feb. 11, 2016
Rutgers Game Notes Previous Matchup: Rutgers 10 - St. John's 8, Feb. 7, 2015
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers men's lacrosse opens the 2016 campaign on Friday afternoon, when they will host St. John's at 3 p.m. at High Point Solutions Stadium. The game will be live streamed on BTN Plus, with Lou Brogno and Rick Mercurio as the announcers.
This will be the second straight season that Rutgers has opened its season against the Red Storm. Last year in Queens, RU claimed a 10-8 victory. Every RU goal scorer from that game returns, led by a four-goal outburst by Chrisitan Trasolini. Jules Heningburg and Jeff George each recorded two goals in their first game in a Scarlet Knights uniform, while Scott Bieda and Ryan Hollingsworth also tallied. Trasolini also scored four goals as a freshman against St. John's, and backed by a hat trick from Bieda, RU won 16-13 in St. John's last visit to Piscataway. Trasolini (eight goals, one assist lifetime vs. St. John's) and Bieda (six goals, three assists lifetime vs. St. John's) will seek to continue their successful careers against the former BIG EAST rival in the home opener.
Rutgers leads the all-time series against St. John's 18-6. RU holds a twogame winning streak. Rutgers is 3-1 in season openers and also 3-1 in home openers under coach Brecht. At Friday's game, the first 100 fans will receive free hot chocolate. There will also be a poster giveaway for the first 500 fans in attendance.
Rutgers enters the 2016 campaign after a 5-10 mark in its first season of competition in the Big Ten Conference. The 2015 season was highlighted by a strong finish, with RU earning a 17-10 win over No. 10 Ohio State in the season finale. Rutgers played tight games against a tough schedule, with six games being decided by one or two goals, including matchups with ranked foes in Johns Hopkins, Princeton, Army and Maryland. The Scarlet Knights lose three senior starters, but return a strong core, including their top three, and four of their top-five point scorers from last season.
St. John's recorded a 3-11 record in the 2015 campaign, earning wins over Stony Brook, Drexel and Providence, but finishing the season on a four game losing streak. The Red Storm return leading scorer Eric DeJohn (38 goals, 26 assists, 64 points), who was named a unanimous Preseason All-Big East selection. The team did lose Stefan Diachenko (40 goals in 2015) to graduation. Other key returners for St. John's are Justin Corpolongo (96-of- 207 on faceoffs in 2015) and Jason Debendicits (14 goals, 13 assists last season as a freshman).
The matchup is a familiar one for these two head coaches. While this is the fifth time the two squads will face off under these head coaches, the connection goes back longer than that. Brian Brecht and Jason Miller were collegiate teammates at Springfield College, with Miller graduating in 1993 and Brecht graduating in 1995. The series between the two as head coaches of their current programs is even at 2-2.
