PISCATAWAY, N.J. - No. 3 Rutgers men's lacrosse will battle an in-state rival this weekend, facing No. 7 Princeton for the Tots Meistrell Cup. The game will be played at 6 p.m. on Friday night, moved up from the originally scheduled Saturday date due to projected incliment weather.
Rutgers offense has scored 94 goals through six games, the most for the program in the opening six games of a season since 1990. The scoring has been balanced, with five players with at least 12 goals.
Ross Scott leads the team with 19 tallies and 27 points, followed by
Mitch Bartolo and
Ronan Jacoby with 15 goals,
Shane Knobloch with 13 and
Brian Cameron with 12. RU is in the top-15 nationally in scoring margin (ninth, 5.67), scoring offense (11th, 15.67) and points per game (14th, 22.83). On the defensive end, reigning All-American long-stick midfielder
Ethan Rall has 13 caused turnovers on the season, one away from tying his previous career-high and ninth nationally at 2.17 CT/game. Goalkeeper
Colin Kirst has five straight double-digit save games with a 9.91 goals-against-average and .565 save percentage.
BROADCAST INFO
The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and NBC Philly, with Cody Chrusciel (play-by-play) and Dave Giancola (analyst) on the call. WRSU 88.7 FM, Rutgers Student Radio, will also have a radio call of the game with Eddie Kalegi and Brett Hawn on the call.
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LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend, RU continued its unbeaten start to the season, improving to 6-0 overall after dealing Stony Brook their first loss of the season in a 17-16 road victory. The Scarlet Knights held off a late charge from the Seawolves, making a defensive stand on the game's final possession to clinch the win. Rutgers was led by
Ross Scott (four goals, one assist),
Shane Knobloch (three goals, two assists) and
Mitch Bartolo (three goals, three assists).
ABOUT PRINCETON
Princeton has opened the season 3-1 overall and risen to No. 7 in the national polls. After opening the season with a pair of victories over Monmouth and Binghamton, a loss at No. 1 Maryland was followed by a road win last weekend at No. 3 Georgetown. The team is led offensively by Chris Brown (9 goals, 9 assists) and Alex Slusher (14 goals, 17 points). Erik Peters has posted a .620 save percentage and 10.17 goals-against-average. The Tigers lead the nation in man-up offense and are second in caused turnovers per game.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Rutgers and Princeton will battle in the 99th lifetime meeting, the seventh longest contested series in the NCAA as it dates back to 1922. The squads play for the Meistrell Cup, named in honor of U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Famer Harland (Tots) Meistrell, who restarted the lacrosse programs at both schools in the early 1920s. RU is 31-64-3 in the series, the longest played series in program history. The Scarlet Knights are 2-2 in the last four meetings with the Tigers. Prior to the team's 2017 win, RU had just one win (2005) since 1989. In 2019, Rutgers goalkeeper Max Edelmann made 18 saves, none bigger than a stop with six seconds remaining to preserve a 9-8 victory. In 2017, Rutgers claimed a 16-11 win that marked the first re-capturing of the Tots Meistrell Cup since 2005.
WITH A VICTORY
- Rutgers would win its first road game at Princeton since 1989.
- Rutgers would win its third ranked game of the season (3-0). The Scarlet Knights have only once previously won three straight games against ranked foes (2017 versus No. 19 Brown, No. 17 Stony Brook and No. 15 Princeton).
- Rutgers would win its second game this season against a top-10 foe, previously defeating No. 10 Army. It would mark the second straight season RU compiled multiple top-10 wins.
GALLAGHER APPROACHES 100
Rutgers captain
Ryan Gallagher is approaching an upcoming milestone. The Atlanta native enters Saturday's game versus Princeton with 99 career points, just one point away from 100 for his career.
RIP COACH HAYES
The Rutgers men's lacrosse program is mourning the loss of former head coach Tom Hayes, a lacrosse icon who coached the Scarlet Knights from 1975 to 2000 and led the team to 21 winning seasons and to final top-20 rankings for 24-straight years. He also had a large impact on the growth of lacrosse at the international level.
ACTIVE CAREER LEADERS
Entering this weekend's contest, RU has a collection of players among the NCAA's active career leaders.
Ronan Jacoby is second in goals per game (3.06) and third in goals (165).
Sam Stephan is second in faceoff attempts (1,027), third in ground balls (355) and sixth in faceoffs won (561).
UP NEXT
Rutgers returns to action next week for a midweek contest, hosting Lafayette
