Rutgers Game Notes

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - No. 7 Rutgers men's lacrosse continues to navigate a challenging nonconference schedule on Friday night, hosting No. 14 Stony Brook. The Scarlet Knights will put a 5-0 record on the line against a fellow unbeaten in the 4-0 Seawolves. The game will be live streamed by BTN Plus, with Lou Brogno and Rick Mercurio on the call.

Rutgers has won 11 straight games at High Point Solutions Stadium. The run dates back to a 17-10 win over then-No. 10 Ohio State, and includes four wins over ranked teams (OSU, No. 9 Johns Hopkins, No. 17 Penn State, No. 19 Brown). The game represents the second of three consecutive ranked matchups for the Scarlet Knights since entering the top-ten, facing then-No. 19 Brown, No. 14 Stony Brook, and Tuesday hosting No. 19 Princeton.

The Scarlet Knights are coming off of a 13-11 victory over then-No. 19 Brown. The victory over the 2016 NCAA Semifinalist came behind a four goal, five point day from freshman Kieran Mullins, who scored three goals in the final quarter to break a 10-10 tie.

RU has been backed by an outstanding defense, which ranks in the top-ten in caused turnovers (second, 10.8 per game), ground balls (fifth, 35 per game) and scoring defense (eighth, 9.8 goals against per game). Rutgers boasts the top three in the conference in caused turnovers, led by two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week Michael Rexrode, who forces two turnovers for a game for a conference-leading 10 on the season. Fellow defenseman Alex Bronzo, who had a career-game versus Brown with five ground balls and five caused turnovers, is second in the league with 1.5 caused turnovers per game. Rounding out the starting trio, Chris Groel leads conference defenseman with 4.4 ground balls per game. Joe Francisco is 47-of-89 (.528) at the faceoff 'X' with a team-high 30 ground balls, and scored the first two goals of his career this past week.

Stony Brook is led offensively by Cory Vanginhoven, who has 13 goals and 16 points. Alex Corpolongo, a returning First Team All-Conference selection, has 10 goals and 15 points. Preseason All-American Jeff Reh, a short stick defensive midfielder, has six goals and nine points. Jay Lindsay is 45-of-87 (.517) on faceoffs, while Brandon Maciejewski has a 9.75 goals-against-average and .449 save percentage between the pipes.

The all-time series between the two squads is even at 5-5. The Scarlet Knights are looking for revenge for last season, when a mid-March trip to Long Island resulted in a 15-6 victory for then-No. 18 Stony Brook. The last Rutgers win over SBU was a 6-3 victory on March 28, 2006.