PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 4 Rutgers men's lacrosse will host Penn State this Saturday at 4 p.m. in the team's regular season finale. The annual rivalry game is contested for the Friendship Cup and will be the team's annual Senior Day and Alumni Appreciation Day. Rutgers enters the game at 11-2 overall and 3-1 in Big Ten play. A win would give RU a program record 12 victories on the season, while the Scarlet Knights can clinch a share of the Big Ten regular season title with a win and a Maryland loss.

The contest will be nationally broadcast by Big Ten Network. Jason Ross Jr. and Mark Dixon will be on the call, while Jake Schmeid and Chris Tsakonas will have the radio call for WRSU.

About the Scarlet Knights

Rutgers stands at No. 4 in all the national polls and is No. 5 in the NCAA RPI. The Scarlet Knights' 11-2 record includes wins over No. 5 and No. 11 in the media poll, with the losses coming on the road to No. 1 and No. 3.

Last weekend, RU held leads of 9-3 and 11-6, then held on for a 13-12 win at Michigan. RU was led by Ronan Jacoby who had three goals, including the game-winning tally with 3:41 to play.

Rutgers' boasts three starters at attack who are in their first year starting at attack at RU. Ross Scott (31 goals, 21 assists), Mitch Bartolo (30 goals, 12 assists) and Brian Cameron (25 goals) have all excelled. Additionally, Ronan Jacoby (28 goals) and Shane Knobloch (24 goals) have contributed to the scoring from the midfield. Rutgers' sixth offensive starter, Ryan Gallagher, had a season-best four points at Michigan last weekend. Rutgers is one of five teams in the nation with five players to have 30+ points.

In Big Ten games, Rutgers has been led offensively by midfielders Shane Knobloch (9 goals, 4 assists) and Ronan Jacoby (8 goals, 4 assists), with attackman Mitch Bartolo adding nine goals and an assist.

Nationally, Rutgers is second in turnovers (13.54) and clearing percentage (91.9%), fourth in scoring offense (15.46) and fifth in scoring margin (4.77) and points (23.77). Individually, Ethan Rall is first in the Big Ten and 13^th nationally in caused turnovers (1.85). Colin Kirst is top-15 in the NCAA in save percentage (.553) and goals-against-average (10.30), while also second in the Big Ten in saves per game (11.69).

Rutgers' defense has claimed six of the 11 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week awards this season. Jaryd Jean-Felix claimed his third weekly award of the season this week, joined by Ethan Rall (twice) and Bobby Russo.

Rall has 24 caused turnovers on the season. He is currently tied with Kyle Pless (2019) and Nick Contino (2013, 2012) for the most caused turnovers in a single season since the program began tracking the statistic in 2006. Rall has 57 caused turnovers in his career, fifth most at RU since 2006, and two away from tying Pless and Andrew D'Agostino for 3^rd most.

About Penn State

Penn State, who began the season in the national rankings, holds a 3-9 record overall and 1-3 mark in conference play. The Nittany Lions hold wins over No. 5 Yale, Michigan (in overtime) and Lafayette.

Their offense is led by Mac Costin with 19 goals and Will Peden with 20 assists and 30 points. PSU features seven players who have scored between 10 and 19 goals.

Penn State leads the Big Ten in saves per game (14.33) behind goalkeeper Aleric Fyock, who has a 13.90 goals-against-average and .507 save percentage. Hudson Bohn is at 46.4% on faceoffs (115-of-248).

About the Series

Rutgers has 45 victories all-time against Penn State dating back to 1946, the most victories for RU against any one team. RU is 45-24 all-time and are 4-4 since the teams joined the Big Ten together in 2015. Last season, Rutgers swept the series, claiming an 11-9 win over No. 6 Penn State to open the season, then claiming a 22-10 victory on the road later in the season. That 12-goal margin was RU's largest ever in a Big Ten game. The annual rivalry game is contested for the Friendship Cup.

Senior Day

The last home game of the season will include postgame Senior Day ceremonies. RU will recognize 27 seniors in a postgame ceremony as the program recognizes all its players that are graduating with their undergraduate or Master's degrees this spring.

The group includes: 

Two attackmen: Mitch Bartolo and Eric Civetti
Seven midfielders: Ryan Gallagher, Ronan Jacoby, Andrew Kim, Justin Kim, Joe Peterson, Michael Sanguinetti and David Sprock
Six defensemen: Brad Apgar, Bryant Boswell, Jaryd Jean-Felix, Bobby Russo, Jack Stahanczyk and Jonathan Taub
Three goalkeeper: Toby Burgdorf, Colin Kirst and Stephen Russo
Two long-stick midfielders: Ethan Rall and Brian Ward
Four short-stick defensive midfielders: Tommy Coyne, Cole Daninger, Zackary Franckowiak and Brennan Kamish 
Three faceoff specialists: Michael Ott, Sam Stephan and Moriah Yousefi

A number of these Scarlet Knights can utilize additional eligibilty to return for next season, but will be honored with their class Saturday in honor of their graduation.

Alumni Appreciation Day

The final home game also will be the annual Alumni Appreciation Day. This season, RU will recognize the 50^th anniversary for the 1972 NCAA Tournament Team and the 30^th anniversary for the 1992 team. The team also welcomes back all of the program's Hall of Famers.

Tom Hayes Celebration of Life

This Saturday will include a pregame 'Celebration of Life' event to honor the legacy of former RU head coach Tom Hayes. Hayes led the team from 1975 to 2000 and has the most wins in program history. The team wears 'Tom Hayes' on the back of its jerseys this season. A pregame event will honor the former coach, and his family will also be recognized at halftime and during a pregame moment of silence.

With a Victory

A win for Rutgers would represent

• Rutgers' 12^th win of the season would be a new program record.
• Rutgers can clinch a share of the Big Ten championship for the first time with a win AND a loss by Maryland in its Saturday game (6 pm start Saturday vs. Johns Hopkins).
  • With a Maryland win, Rutgers would ensure a second-place conference finish for RU for the second straight season
• Rutgers' 4-1 Big Ten finish would be its best conference record in the Big Ten's traditional single-play (non-COVID) conference format.
• Rutgers would be 12-3 in conference play over the past two years.
• Rutgers would improve to 7-0 this season, 11-1 over the past two seasons and 13-2 over the past three seasons in home games.
• Rutgers would remain unbeaten on Senior Days since joining the Big Ten.
• Rutgers would finish the regular season conference slate unbeaten against every non-Maryland team for the second straight season.

Rutgers University Athletics Success

As Rutgers University have grown within the Big Ten Conference and invested in the building of facilities, the Scarlet Knight teams across the board have started to see increased on-field success on the playing fields.

Rutgers has had nine athletic programs nationally ranked during the 2021-22 school year, with men's lacrosse being joined by men's and women's soccer, field hockey, wrestling, gymnastics, women's lacrosse, rowing, and baseball. Four of those programs (No. 4 men's lacrosse, No. 8 baseball, No. 14 women's lacrosse and No. 17 rowing) are currently ranked and in action this spring. Additionally, men's basketball has made two consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, the first time for that program since 1976.

Up Next

Rutgers is guaranteed of the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and will receive a bye through the Quarterfinals. The Scarlet Knights will next play in the semifinals on Thursday, May 5 in College Park, Md.