PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 20 Rutgers men's lacrosse begins postseason play this week as the program is the host of the 2019 Big Ten Men's Lacrosse Tournament. The Scarlet Knights earned the No. 4 seed in the tournament and face top-seeded Penn State on Thursday at 5 p.m. The game will be televised nationwide with Joe Beninati (play-by-play) and Mark Dixon (color commentary) on the call. WRSU (88.7 FM) and Lacrosse Talk Radio will provide radio broadcasts of the contests.

ABOUT RUTGERS: Rutgers concluded the regular season with a 7-7 mark and conference wins over No. 4 Ohio State and Michigan. The Scarlet Knights set a program record this week with four All-Big Ten players and three First Team selections.

Max Edelmann was named Big Ten Co-Specialist of the Year and to the First Team after averaging 14.83 saves per game, which led the nation, while posting a 57.2% save percentage that led the conference and was fourth nationally. Adam Charalambides earned First Team honors after scoring a team-high 45 goals, 18 of them in conference play, pacing the league. Kieran Mullins was a First Team selection after posting a team-high 36 assists and 59 points. Kyle Pless was named Second Team All-Big Ten after causing 23 turnovers and collecting 32 ground balls.

As a team, RU ranks fifth in the country in man-down defense (.765) and sixth in saves per game (14.36). The Scarlet Knights are first in the Big Ten in both categories.

ABOUT PENN STATE: The Nittany Lions enter the contest at 12-1 overall this season. With a 5-0 mark in Big Ten Conference play, PSU earned the Big Ten regular season title. Offensively, they are led by Grant Ament (13 goals, 68 assists, 81 points), the unanimous Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year. Chris Sabia was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year while Mac O'Keefe (50 goals), Gerard Arceri (62.4 % on faceoffs) and Colby Kneese (9.92 goals-against-average) joined them as All-Big Ten selections.

The team leads the nation in five offensive categories – scoring offense (17.23), scoring margin (7.15), assists (10.54), points per game (27.77) and shot percentage (42.5%).

ABOUT THE SERIES: Rutgers holds the all-time advantage, 43-23, in a series that dates back to 1950. Last Saturday in State College, a back-and-forth game came down to the final minute, with Penn State escaping with a 14-13 win. Scarlet Knight sophomore midfielder Tommy Coyne posted a career-high six goals, while Charalmbides had two goals and a career-high four assists. Since Rutgers joined the Big Ten, the host team has won each matchup. It is the third most played series in Rutgers history, dating back to 1946, behind Princeton and Army.

RUTGERS BIG TEN TOURNAMENT HISTORY: Since joining the conference in 2015, Rutgers has qualified for the Big Ten Tournament three times (2019, 2018, 2016). The team is 1-2 in the two prior appearances. Last season, the Scarlet Knights fell 12-9 to Maryland in the semifinals held at the University of Michigan. In 2016 at Homewood Field in Baltimore, the Scarlet Knights earned a 14-12 win over Johns Hopkins in the semifinals before falling 14-8 to Maryland in the championship game.



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