PISCATAWAY, N.J. - No. 9 Rutgers men's lacrosse plays in the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals this weekend, as the Scarlet Knights will face top-seeded North Carolina on the campus of Hofstra University. The game will be a 2:30 p.m. start on ESPNU, with Chris Cotter and Paul Carcaterra on the call. WRSU will also provide a radio broadcast.

ABOUT RUTGERS
The Scarlet Knights enter the matchup after a 12-5 win over Lehigh last weekend, the team's first NCAA Tournament since 1990. Rutgers' defensive effort was outstanding in the game, led by goalkeeper Colin Kirst's 17 saves. The Scarlet Knights allowed their fewest goals since 2019, a span of 27 games, and the fewest ever allowed by RU in an NCAA Tournament game. Rutgers held Lehigh scoreless for a 25-minute stretch to take a 7-3 lead, and then scored four of the final five goals of the game to put the victory away.

Kieran Mullins, Adam Charalambides and Connor Kirst each scored three goals for RU in that win. The trio has all recorded at least 50 points this season for the Scarlet Knights. Charalambides along with Colin Kirst were named All-Americans by a media voting panel, giving RU 218 All-Americans all-time. Charalambides is the second Scarlet Knight all-time with three 40-goal seasons, joining Jack Daut.

The game features two of the nation's top offenses, as UNC leads the nation at 17.0 goals per game, while Rutgers is fifth at 14.58 goals. Rutgers also takes care of the ball at an elite level, with just 12.25 turnovers per game being the best mark in the nation. The team's man-up offense converts 51.9 percent of the time, third best nationally.

Defensively, RU is buoyed by Colin Kirst in the goal, who ranks in the top-10 nationally in saves per game (13.58). Long-stick midfielders Ethan Rall and Zach Masessa combined for five caused turnovers in last week's win.

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Rutgers is making its 10th appearance all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Scarlet Knights previously reached the NCAA Tournament in 1972, 1974, 1975, 1984, 1986, 1990, 1991, 2003 and 2004. The NCAA playoff system for men's lacrosse was implemented in 1971. RU win over Lehigh was the program's first NCAA Tournament game win since 1990 and improved the Scarlet Knights' all-time record in NCAA games to 3-9 all-time in the event. The Scarlet Knights' first NCAA Tournament victory came in 1986. Rutgers has never won two consecutive NCAA Tournament games.

ABOUT UNC
North Carolina enters the game at 12-2 following a 16-4 win over Monmouth in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels started the season 8-0 before taking consecutive losses at Duke (12-11 in OT) and to Virginia (18-16) before reeling off four consecutive wins to this point. UNC had eight All-Americans in the media voting, led by First Team selections in attackman Chris Gray and defenseman Will Bowen. Gray is second nationally with 5.93 points per game, leading the team with 46 goals and 37 assists, pacing nine Tar Heels to score double-digit goals this season. On the defensive end, goalkeeper Collin Kreig has a save percentage of 54.8 percent and a 10.1 goals-against-average.

The Tar Heels are ranked No. 1 in the media poll. The last time RU faced the nation's top team was consecutive matchups against No. 1 Penn State to close the 2019 season.

ABOUT THE MATCHUP
The Scarlet Knights have never played North Carolina previously. The Tar Heels are the lone team currently in the ACC that RU has never faced.

Rutgers' assistant coach and offensive coordinator Eric Seremet played at UNC, graduating in 1992. During his career, the Tar Heels won four ACC titles and advanced to the NCAA Final Four each season. Seremet also played on North Carolina's 1991 national championship team

WITH A VICTORY
A win on Saturday for the Scarlet Knights would represent:
- Rutgers first ever Final Four trip.
- The first time RU ever won multiple games in an NCAA Tournament.
- The highest ever ranked win in program history (previously: two wins over No. 3 ranked team in the country - No. 3 Ohio State in 2017 and No. 3 UMass in 2003).
- The first Rutgers athletics team to advance to a Final Four since the 2015 women's soccer team made the College Cup.

RECORD CHASING
Adam Charalambides moved into second place all-time at Rutgers history with 145 career goals. He trails just Keith Cromwell, who has 152 goals, for the all-time lead at Rutgers. Charalambides has 197 career points, good for sixth all-time and just five points from moving up to fourth. Kieran Mullins enters the game seventh in career goals at RU, just one away from six place all-time. He is also seventh
in assists and second in points. 

RANKED WINS
The Scarlet Knights have made a statement against top teams this season, winning team games against  ranked teams. The Scarlet Knights defeated No. 6 Penn State and No. 14 Ohio State at home, and won at No. 6 Ohio State and No. 14 Johns Hopkins. The team also
defeated No. 10 Lehigh in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

It marks the teams:
- First time with two ranked true road wins in one season since 2003
- First time for Rutgers with back-to-back ranked wins since 2018
- First time with 3 top-10 wins in one season since 2003
- 2nd time with 5 ranked wins in one season (2003)

QUOTABLE
"Everyone in the locker room is utter excitement to have another week together. It was great for us to make history, and we are trying to keep our positive momentum going forward. We've been working hard all season, we need to work well together, communicate, and play together. We have all the tools we need to make that happen."
- Michael Sanguinetti

"Everyone bought in for this season. We really stuck together as a team and that was a key for us in getting to the NCAA Tournament and then getting a First Round win. Against UNC, we have to stick to our fundamentals and keep doing what we have been doing all year - lock in with our stick work and play our game."
- Ethan Rall