Feb. 12, 2016
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PISCATAWAY, N.J. - For the second straight season, Rutgers men's lacrosse opened the season with an encouraging win over a former conference rival. The Scarlet Knights got the 2016 campaign off to an enthusiastic start Friday afternoon at High Point Solutions Stadium, downing St. John's 19-11.
Rutgers' senior captain Scott Bieda led the way, as the Bridgewater, N.J. native totaled nine points (five goals, four assists). Redshirt freshman Adam Charalambides made his debut a sensational one, scoring six goals and adding an assist in his first collegiate game. Bieda's nine points were the most points in a game by a Rutgers player in over 10 years, while Charalambides tied Keith Cromwell, the program's all-time leading scorer, for the fifth most goals in a single game in Rutgers history.
"I was very pleased with how the team handled the offseason," head coach Brian Brecht said. "I thought we played excactly how we've been practicing, which has been going very well for the past three weeks. It was the first time in that big stadium for a lot of guys who made a lot of plays today."
Early in the game, the visitors came out hot, scoring the game's first three goals. A tactical adjustment helped swing the momentum into Rutgers favor, as Alex Schoen entered at the faceoff circle and won his first five face offs, sparking a run of eight straight goals for the Scarlet Knights. The tallies came fast and furious for RU, who scored five times in a span of 1:35. Bieda had a hat trick before the end of the first quarter, Charalambides scored twice, and Connor Murphy, Jeff George, and Jules Heningburg got in on the action.
The Red Storm scored the final goal of the first frame, giving RU an 8-4 advantage. Rutgers responded with another flurry of goals, getting goals off the sticks of Bieda, Charalambides and Chad Toliver. The home squad totaled 12 goals in the first half, and took a seven-goal lead into the halftime locker room.
St. John's was able to cut the deficit to 12-7 by scoring first two goals of the second half, but that was as close as the visitors from Queens would get. Rutgers roared back with five of the next six goals, putting no doubt about the outcome. Zack Sikora and Ryan Hollingsworth had second half goals, giving Rutgers eight different goal scorers on the day, as the Scarlet Knights locked down the 19-11 victory.
Rutgers dominated the stat sheet, leading St. John's 44-18 on ground balls and causing 10 turnovers. The Scarlet Knights got an outstanding 21-of-27 performance on faceoffs from Alex Schoen, and saw returning All-Big Ten player Zack Sikora notch a goal, a game-high six ground balls, and hold the Red Storm midfield to just one goal. Sophomore Max Edelmann made got the start in goal in Rutgers debut, making nine saves to earn his first collegiate win.
"I'm very pleased with the attack unit collectively as a whole," Brecht explained. "We knew when we recruited Adam he could score a lot of goals. And now he's on a mission. I give him a lot of credit for working so hard to be in that position and give that whole unit credit for what they did today."
The Scarlet Knights are on the road for their next contest. RU will travel to West Point to face Army at 2:30 p.m. next Saturday.
Notes
Adam Charalambides scored 6 goals his collegiate debut. He was the first Rutgers freshmen to score at least six goals in a game since Ed Trabulsky in 1984 against Bucknell.
Charalambides became the first RU freshman to score at least six goals in a season opener.
His six goals were tied with Keith Cromwell (4 occasions) as the 5th most goals ever scored in a single game by a Rutgers player.
The last player to score at least six goals in a game for Rutgers was Kory Kelly - March 16, 2010.
Bieda's nine points was sixth on Rutgers all-time single game points list.
Bieda set a career-high in points, and tied career-high in goals (5 goals at Delaware, March 14, 2015).
Bieda's nine points were the most points scored in a game by a Rutgers player since at least 2006.
Jules Heningburg (one goal, two assists), Connor Murphy (two goals) and Chad Toliver (two goals) had multi-point days.
Alex Schoen finished 21-of-27 on faceoffs, had four ground balls, and his first career assists.
Austin Divitcos had his first career point with an assist.
Making their Rutgers debut: Adam Charalambides, Max Edelmann, Kyle Pless, Mark Christiano, Casey Rose, Josh Jordan, Zackary Franckowiak.
Charalambides, Edelmann and Alex Bronzo made their first career starts.
Connor Murphy made his first start since 2014.
Rutgers' 19 goals were the most scored in a game since a 21-goal outburst against NJIT on March 20, 2015.
The Scarlet Knights now hold a 19-6 advantage in the all-time series against St. John's. RU has won the past three meetings.
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.
