No. 16 Men's Lacrosse Season Preview

Photo by: Ben Solomon

Jan 30 | Men's Lacrosse

Coach Brecht BTN Interview Charalambides BTN Interview RVision Preview

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Led by a stout attack unit and returning its top six point scorers from a year ago, the Rutgers men's lacrosse team looks to improve on last year's 7-8 campaign heading into the 2020 season. A stable of talent remains for a Scarlet Knights team looking to make an impact this season. Led by head coach Brian Brecht, who is entering his 9th year at the helm of Rutgers, the Scarlet Knights are excited to get back onto the field for another season of lacrosse 'On the Banks'.

SCHEDULE

Once again, Rutgers is tasked with one of the toughest schedules in the nation, ranked as the 15th hardest strength of schedule. Four of their five Big Ten opponents are ranked inside the top-12 of the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll, with Michigan receiving votes.

Of the Knights' nine non-conference games, five of them are on the road, including contests at No. 15 Army and No. 14 Loyola in consecutive weeks. Rutgers will welcome No. 4 Syracuse to SHI Stadium to close out its non-conference home slate. Rutgers will also visit Princeton, where the teams will play for the 98th time in history and battle it out for the Meistrell Cup.

"There's no doubt, with the games we're going to have at home, with the road games we're going to travel to prepare for -- our non-conference schedule is certainly the toughest I've seen here and certainly is going to prepare us well for the second half of the season and Big Ten play," said head coach Brian Brecht.

OFFENSE

The Scarlet Knights return their entire starting attack unit in 2020 that features two team captains in senior Kieran Mullins and redshirt junior Adam Charalambides alongside junior Ryan Gallagher. Mullins and Charalambides each had 60-point seasons in 2019, while Gallagher added 24 goals and 20 assists, each second-best on the team. Mark Schachte also added seven goals from the attack spot last year.

"You know where he's going to be and he knows where I'm going to be without even thinking about it. We understand how each other's game feeds into the others person's game," Charalambides said of his relationship with Mullins on the field. "I think we're doing a good job of maximizing each other's strengths. Kieran's a phenomenal player and it's great to play with him."

After being named the 2016 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Charalambides missed both the 2017 and 2018 seasons with injuries. After getting back to the field in 2019 and scoring 47 goals, Charalmbides is looking forward to his first season with a full fall and winter to train with the team.

"It was good to have a full fall of training with the boys every single day," he said. "It's just good building chemistry with all the guys on the team top to bottom. It's just good to be out there every day competing to keep team morale going and keep the boys going."

DEFENSE

On the defensive side of the ball, Rutgers is anchored by team captain and preseason All-Big Ten honoree Garrett Bullett, who had 34 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers in 2019 and is entering his third straight season as a starter.

Jack Thompson, Jordan Pakzad, Jack Stahanczyk, Jake Nordhausen and Jaryd Jean-Felix are among a number of options for the defensive unit.

MIDFIELD

The Scarlet Knights have thrived in the past in creating up-tempo goal-scoring opportunities by strong play from their rope unit and midfielders.

"I think we might've gotten away from that," Brecht said of the team's up-tempo play. "We didn't have as many transition opportunities that we've had in years past and I think some of our best athletes are at the midfield again this year. I want to have our best athletes and players on the field as much as they can to be able to make plays"

David Sprock was named to the Big Ten all-conference preseason team by Inside Lacrosse after a freshman season that saw him play every game with 10 goals and three assists. After adjusting to a midseason position switch from attack, Tommy Coyne will also be a key part of the Rutgers offensive midfield following his 16-goal and eight-assist season in 2019. Others experienced returners include Owen Mead, Michael Sanguinetti, Joe Peterson, Brennan Kammish and Brian Eletti.

The rope unit, which has a hand in both sides of the ball, will see a lot of different players mixing in. Zach Franckowiak, Ethan Rall, Cole Daninger, Bobby Russo, Zach Masessa and Robert Marron bring a wealth of experience in these positions.

The Scarlet Knights' depth in this area is one of the team's strengths heading into the new season and will help keep the tempo high and the goal-scoring opportunities plentiful.

"We've been taking pride in playing our way -- playing the Rutgers way," Charalambides said. "That's with pace and tempo. We like to get up and down. We got some big athletic middies that will allow us to play our way. I'm excited to see what those guys do this year and excited to face another color jersey and put it all together."

SPECIALISTS

The specialist units will have a different look in 2020. Brecht is tasked with replacing All-American and Big Ten Specialist of the Year in Max Edelmann as well as who steps up at the faceoff 'X'.

In the goal, the Scarlet Knights return veteran Billy Kelly and sophomore Ben Pounds, as well as Cleveland State transfer Stephen Russo and Binghamton-transfer Kevin Carbone and freshman Zach Groff.

"We'll give them as much opportunity to grow and to earn those minutes and have a starting goalie that the defense and the team is confident around as we go into the 2020 season," Brecht said of the competition. "I've been very happy with practices so far."

The Knights have brought in Harford Community College transfer Moriah Yousefi to bolster the faceoff unit. Arriving to 'the Banks' with three years of eligibility, Yousefi won 242-of-336 of his draws in junior college, good for a 72% clip.

"Moriah was the best faceoff guy in junior college last year and he was an incredible student. We're thankful that he's here at Rutgers and he's been having a great preseason for us," Brecht said. "Game day, we're going to find out how good he is for us -- if we can complement him on the wings and support him to allow him to do what he does well, which is face off and be extremely athletic and be pretty skilled with the ball and hopefully add another dynamic to the transition game."

OVERVIEW

The 2020 version of Rutgers men's lacrosse is a combination of grizzled veterans and hungry young players all with the common goal of playing lacrosse into the month of May.

"The goal every year is to compete for the postseason at the end of the year," Brecht said. "Playing in three of the last four and the last two Big Ten Tournaments is something that we're proud of. Winning a postseason game is the next step."

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 Coach 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. For additional updates, please download the Scarlet Knights App via the app store or play store.