Men's Lacrosse: 2020 in Review
Apr 01 | Men's Lacrosse
The 2020 men’s lacrosse season will forever go down as a year interrupted, as the COVID-19 pandemic caused an early cancellation to the spring sports season. After the season’s early conclusion, we take a look back at what 2020 meant for the Scarlet Knights.
The Scarlet Knights opened the series with a pair of dominant wins, defeating Quinnipiac (20-9) and St. John’s (17-10). The Scarlet Knights’ 37 goals through two games represented the most tallies in consecutive games since 1993
Three of the next four games came on the road against top-15 foes, including pushing No. 11 Loyola to the brink in a one-goal loss. The season came to an early end just before an opportunity to host the nation’s top-ranked team, No. 1 Syracuse, on March 14.
“I was happy with the way we started our season. As our season progressed our schedule got more difficult, competing against ranked teams. I thought in the last month of the season, I saw a lot of development and guys feeling more comfortable, changing their roles to help the team, and develop our whole system offensively and defensively. That was very encouraging.”Head Coach Brian Brecht
- Adam Charalambides scored his 100th career goal with this tally against Stony Brook. Charalambides has scored 105 goals in 37 career games, placing him 10th all-time in Rutgers history.
- The Scarlet Knights had claimed five individual weekly awards in 2020. Ethan Rall and Zach Masessa earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week awards. Stephen Russo was named Big Ten Co-Specialist of the Week. And Kieran Mullins and Adam Charalambides had each earned a spot on a USILA Team of the Week.
- Mullins and Charalambides were each on the Tewaaraton Award Watch List.
- Mullins was a candidate for the Senior CLASS Award.
- Mullins, Charalambides and Garrett Bullett were named Preseason Players to Watch by the Big Ten.
- Bullett and David Sprock were named Preseason All-Conference by Inside Lacrosse.
- Adam Charalambides: 15 goals, 7 assists, 22 points
- Kieran Mullins: 10 goals, 10 assists, 20 points
- David Sprock: 12 goals, five assists, 17 points
- Ryan Gallagher: 11 goals, four assists, 15 points
- Stephen Russo, a transfer from Cleveland State, stepped into the role of starting goalkeeper. He posted a 12.75 goals-against-average and .500 save percentage.
- Ross Scott made his impact felt as a true freshman. He showcased his speed and talents on both midfield and attack, moving into a starting role for the last three games, and scoring five goals.
- Zach Masessa and Jaryd Jean-Felix stepped into starting roles on the close defense. Masessa collected 15 ground balls and shared the team-lead with seven caused turnovers, while Jean-Felix caused six turnovers and scooped seven ground balls.
- Ethan Rall excelled as the team’s top long-stick midfielder. He had a team-high seven caused turnovers, collected nine ground balls and scored his first career goal.
- Brennan Kamish scored five goals in six games, including a multi-goal performance against Stony Brook.
The Scarlet Knights will take this opportunity to regroup, taking the time to work out on their own. When the team returns to campus, a key piece of their program's future nears completion. Construction continues on the Gary and Barbara Rodkin Academic Success Center, slated open prior to the 2021 season, which will be the future home for the program, housing team offices, locker rooms, academic spaces, strength and conditioning spaces, and more.
“It was encouraging to see the quality practices that we were having and the competitive situations in games as we got ready to play in Big Ten play. A lot of guys that played key roles will be returning. I have great excitement with that group looking forward to next year. I’m a firm believer that impact players are developed through leadership and the self-motivation to improve in the off season. This gives us a bigger period of that development time as we have five months before we get back together as a team in September and can really start organized workouts and practices as a team. This is a big development period for our team on their own to improve themselves in their fitness and development. Our strength and conditioning staff has given them great guidance on how to work on things on their own while they are at home outside of campus to stay fit, active and motivated, and use this time to better themselves.”Head Coach Brian Brecht
"The health and well-being for everyone is first and foremost."@RUlaxCoach Brian Brecht discusses the impact the canceled season has on @RUmlax. pic.twitter.com/Oq11obbS33
— Rutgers On BTN (@RutgersOnBTN) April 1, 2020
