Rutgers University
Loyola University Maryland
No. 5 Men's Lacrosse Heads to No. 19 Loyola Saturday
Feb 23 | Men's Lacrosse
RU plays second straight ranked opponent
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - No. 5 Rutgers men's lacrosse is back on the road this weekend for another ranked matchup. The team heads to Baltimore, and will face No. 19 Loyola on Saturday. Start time will be approximately 1:15 pm
The Scarlet Knights have opened the season 4-0, and will enter Saturday's game as the lone 4-0 team in the nation. This weekend, RU traveled to face No. 19 Loyola in their home opener, pitting two of last season's NCAA Quarterfinalists against each other in a premier non-conference matchup.
The Scarlet Knights have opened the year with wins over LIU, Marist, St. John's and No. 10 Army, outscoring their opponents by a 2-1 margin (64-32). RU has taken advantage of a 64% faceoff winning percentage and 149-95 advantage in ground balls.
Rutgers is led offensively by a trio of double-digit goal scorers: Ross Scott (11 goals, 7 assists), Ronan Jacoby (11 goals) and Mitch Bartolo (10 goals, 4 assists). Brian Cameron (8 goals in three games played) and Shane Knobloch (7 goals) have added to the offense.
In the cage, Colin Kirst has posted Big Ten bests in save percentage (0.642, fourth nationally) and saves per game (13.0, 15th nationally). He is also fourth nationally in goals-against-average (7.61). LSM Ethan Rall leads the team with nine caused turnovers and leads the conference with 2.25 CT/game. Jonathan Dugenio is seventh nationally in faceoff percentage (.651).
Defenseman Jaryd Jean-Felix had four ground balls and two caused turnovers last game and excelled in his individual matchup, forcing Army's leading returning scorer into five turnovers overall. The Preseason All-American earn his first career Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week award. Additionally, Ronan Jacoby was named to the USILA Team of the Week following a six-goal outburst, tying his career-high mark.
| Broadcast Info |
(UPDATED: FEBRUARY 26): There will be no live stream for this game. Fans can follow live stats here: Live Stats
| Last Time Out |
Rutgers earned its first ranked win of the season, taking down No. 10 Army, 13-10. RU got 12 of 13 goals in the game from three players: Ronan Jacoby (6), Brian Cameron (3) and Shane Knobloch (3). Rutgers jumped out to a 7-1 lead, Army countered to tie the game at 8-8, and RU used a late 4-0 run to ensure a victory. The win was RU's first win over Army since 2017, marked its first 4-0 start to a season since 2017, and claimed its sixth ranked win and fourth top-10 win in the past two seasons. It was RU's 12th lifetime win over a top-10 foe and ninth since joining the Big Ten in 2015.
| About Loyola |
Loyola, who entered the season ranked No. 10 in the preseason, is off to an 0-2 start after taking losses to Big Ten teams in its first two games. The Greyhounds fell to Maryland and Johns Hopkins, a pair of ranked losses, both on the road. Loyola is led by Joey Kamish with four goals and Aiden Olmstead with seven points. Loyola has used four different goalkeepers, combining for a .279 save percentage, and are at .400 on faceoffs. Last season, Loyola joined Rutgers as NCAA Quarterfinalists, wining their opening round matchup against No. 7 Duke before falling in overtime to No. 2 Duke. Each team in Saturday's matchup was just one overtime goal away from the Final Four.
Rutgers and Loyola have played 12 times, with Loyola taking the contest in 11 of them. The teams played five times between 1990 and 1994 and five times between 2005 and 2009 as members of the ECAC. Rutgers' win came on April 7, 2007, a 17-7 home victory led by four goals from Mike Dugan and three tallies from Justin Pennington. The teams also matched up in the NCAA Tournament in 1990, a 19-10 victory for the Greyhounds where current Loyola coach Charlie Toomey made 22 saves in their win. The teams last met in 2020, when No. 11 Loyola captured an 11-10 win. Then No. 1 Loyola also grabbed a 13-7 win in 2019 in Piscataway.
| With A Victory |
- Rutgers would improve to 5-0, holding the nation's top record through another weekend
- The Scarlet Knights would claim their second straight ranked win and 26th lifetime ranked win.
- RU would be 4-1 in their last five matchups against ranked teams and 7-3 versus ranked teams in the past two seasons.
- Give Rutgers its first win over Loyola since 2007 (and second overall).
| Connections |
Rutgers short-stick defensive midfielder Brennan Kamish will match up against his younger brother, Loyola starting attackman Joey Kamish. Rutgers head coach Brian Brecht was an assistant coach at Loyola from 2002 to 2004.
| Jacoby's Big Day |
Ronan Jacoby posted six goals in the win over No. 10 Army, matching his career-high and scoring his most goals as a Division I player. Jacoby was the first RU midfielder to score six goals in a game since 2019. The performance tied for the fifth-most goals in a game by a RU player, previously done 13 other times.
| GALLAGHER APPROACHES 100 |
Rutgers captain Ryan Gallagher is approaching an upcoming milestone. The Atlanta native enters Saturday's game versus Loyola with 96 career points, just four points away from 100 for his career.
| Active Career Leaders |
Entering this weekend's contest, RU has a collection of players among the NCAA's active career leaders. Ronan Jacoby is third in goals (161) and goals per game (3.10). Sam Stephan is second in ground balls (352), faceoff attempts (1,021) and fifth in faceoffs won (557). Brad Apgar is eighth in games played (66).
| Bartolo the Tallest |
Rutgers' attackman Mitch Bartolo checks in at 6-6, 238 lbs. That makes him the tallest and heaviest player in Big Ten lacrosse. Bartolo shares an offense with the 5-7 Ryan Gallagher and 5-9 Ross Scott, clocking in at 11 and 9 inches taller than his teammates, respectively.
| TV Schedule Finalized |
The national television schedule has been announced and Rutgers will play all five Big Ten Conference regular season games on national television this season. RU will appear on ESPNU twice (Ohio State, Michigan) and Big Ten Network three times (Maryland, Johns Hopkins, Penn State). RU has played on national television 35 times since joining the Big Ten and will reach 40 appearances by the end of the regular season, with the opportunity to play more national TV contests in the postseason.
| Up Next |
The matchup at Loyola marks the first in a stretch of three straight road games and four games out of five on the road. The Scarlet Knights are at Stony Brook next weekend and Princeton the following Saturday.
