Feb. 15, 2017
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - No. 18 Rutgers men's lacrosse hosts its home opener Saturday when the Scarlet Knights welcome Army West Point to High Point Solutions Stadium for a 2:30 p.m. contest. BTN Plus will live stream the matchup, with Lou Brogno and Rick Mercurio on the call.
Under projected clear skies and a high of 62 degrees, RU (1-0) will welcome longtime rival Army West Point (1-0) for the 80th time lifetime. The historic matchup pits two squads that are each celebrating their 100th season of lacrosse.
The Scarlet Knights have won two of the past three matchups against the Black Knights, both coming on the road. In 2014 it was an overtime goal from Scott Klimchak that gave RU a 9-8 victory. Current senior Connor Murphy also had a key goal late in that game. Last season, it was a 13-11 victory at West Point that helped RU out to a hot start to the season. In that game, Jules Heningburg had a hat trick while Mark Christiano and Casey Rose also scored their first career goals, while Max Edelmann made 11 saves and had six ground balls.
Rutgers opened the season with a sound 16-8 victory at St. John's last week. Jules Heningburg paced the offense with four goals. Murphy (two goals, two assists), freshman Keiran Mullins (two goals, two assists), Casey Rose (two goals), Christian Mazzzone (two goals) and Christian Scarpello (one goal, one assist) all enjoyed multi-point days. Max Edelmann stopped 10 shots and helped RU go 20-of-22 on clears in the victory.
Army West Point opened their season with a 9-2 victory at UMass. Cole Johnson, Matthew Donoavan and David Symmes each tallied twice in that game. AJ Barretto played the majority between the pipes, making seven saves and holding the Minutemen to just two goals. Dan Grabher was 10-of-15 on faceoffs. Reeves Klipstein was named the league's defensive player of the week, while Barretto was tabbed as the goalie of the week.
Army West Point the top team in the receiving votes section of this week's national rankings.
Tickets are still available for the game through the Rutgers ticket office. There will be a giveaway of 2017 team posters.
