March 31, 2016
Rutgers Game Notes
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers men's lacrosse begins Big Ten Conference play on Saturday night when it welcomes No. 9 Johns Hopkins for a 7 p.m. contest. The game will be a red-out. The first 500 fans will receive a free Rutgers t-shirt. The game will also be live streamed on BTN Plus.
The Scarlet Knights enter the beginning of Big Ten play after concluding nonconference play at 7-2. As a team, the Scarlet Knights have excelled this season on clears (third in the nation at 91.8 percent) and ground balls (36.11 per game, leading the conference and third in the NCAA).
The squad has been buoyed by its high-powered attack line of senior Scott Bieda (17 goals, 20 assists, 37 points), redshirt freshman Adam Charalambides (25 goals, 11 assists, 36 points) and sophomore Jules Heningburg (20 goals, 10 assists, 30 points). The trio make Rutgers one of just two teams in the NCAA (along with Duke) to have three players with at least 30 points. Charalambides is one of the top scoring freshmen in the nation, while Heningburg is just one goal from tying his mark from last season.
"The conference as a whole is a great challenge for us," head coach Brian Brecht said. "Johns Hopkins is going to be the best team we've faced so far. I'm looking forward to the challenge. I think the kids are excited to play in a big time game and atmosphere like we're going to have on Saturday night. We've been preparing well this week. Our focus is sharp. The blueprint and the ground work have been laid. It's a great opportunity for us to go out and have 60 minutes to put it all together."
Johns Hopkins is ranked No. 9 in the nation in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. The Blue Jays enter the game at 5-3, with the three losses all coming to teams at least receiving votes in this week's national polls. Offensively Shack Stanwick leads the squad with 38 points (12 goals, nation-leading 26 assists), while Ryan Brown paces the team with 21 goals. Craig Madarasz has been the primary faceoff specialist (71-of-139, 51.1 percent, team-high 31 ground balls). Their goalkeeper is Brock Turnbaugh, who has a 9.85 goals-against-average and .506 save percentage. JHU has also excelled on the man-up, leading the country with a 61.5 conversion percentage.
Johns Hopkins leads the all-time series, 31-4. Last season's meeting, which was the first ever Big Ten Conference men's lacrosse game and the first game as a Big Ten affiliate member for JHU, was the first meeting between the two teams since 1998. Rutgers had an impressive effort, leading 7-6 after three quarters, but was undone in the fourth quarter and fell 9-7. Henningburg led RU with two goals in the game, while Kris Alleyne made 12 saves. Rutgers last victory over Johns Hopkins was a 14-10 win in 1990. The three other wins came in 1964, 1955 and 1929.
"The process started back in September," Brecht explained. "What they've done throughout the season, what they've done all fall, preseason and obviously being 7-2 through the nonconference certainly has prepared us to go into the Big Ten. There's no bigger challenge that we're going to have than our conference schedule and the game against Johns Hopkins this Saturday."
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