PISCATAWAY, N.J. - No. 3 Rutgers (10-1, 2-0) men's lacrosse is preparing for a huge game on Sunday night, as the Scarlet Knights will travel to College Park, Md. to face No. 1 Maryland (9-0, 2-0). The game will be at 7 p.m., with a national television broadcast on Big Ten Network, with the winner taking sole possession of first place in the conference.
Rutgers enters the contest at 10-1, the fastest the team has ever reached double-digit wins. RU has seven double-digit win season in program history, with three of them coming since joining the Big Ten (2016, 2017, 2022). The Scarlet Knights are 20-17 in regular season Big Ten Conference play and 12-5 over the past three seasons.
Rutgers defeated Johns Hopkins on Sunday night, 12-7. The Scarlet Knights raced out to a 9-2 lead to take command in the game, and then held the Blue Jays to a season-low seven goals, their smallest output in a 28-game span.
Bobby Russo was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after scooping six ground balls in the game, the most for a RU starting close defenseman in a Big Ten game since Chris Groel vs. Penn State in 2016. SSDM
Zackary Franckowiak had a career-high three caused turnovers, matching his previous season-high total.
Shane Knobloch had his fourth hat trick of the season to lead the offense. He reached 20 goals on the season, giving RU five players with 20 goals:
Ross Scott (30),
Mitch Bartolo (27),
Ronan Jacoby (24),
Brian Cameron (21) and Knobloch. The Scarlet Knights are the only team in the nation entering the weekend with five players of at least 20 goals.
In goal,
Colin Kirst has a 9.46 goals-against-average, a Big Ten best .565 save percentage, and eight double-digit save games en route to 122 stops and a 10-1 record.
Jonathan Dugenio is 121-of-219 (55.3%) on faceoffs.
The game will be nationally televised by Big Ten Network with Joe Beninati and Mark Dixon on the call. WRSU 88.7 FM will also have a radio broadcast of the game with Dylan McCoy and Gideon Fox on the call.
Rutgers is looking for its first ever win over a top-ranked team. Rutgers last faced a number 1 ranked team in last year's NCAA Quarterfinals, when RU took No. 1 UNC to the brink, falling in overtime. Rutgers faced the number one team in the nation three times in 2019: No. 1 Loyola (13-7 loss), and two matchups against a No. 1 Penn State team (14-13 road loss, 18-6 loss in the Big Ten Tournament). RU faced a No. 1 ranked Maryland team in 2018, falling 11-10.
A win for the Scarlet Knights would represent:
- The highest 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 program's first win over Maryland since 1980 and second all-time.
- Rutgers' 11th win of the season, tying the program record for wins in a season (previously done in 1986 and 2016).
- Rutgers third ranked win this season in four games against ranked foes (also defeating No. 10/12 Army, No. 19/20 Loyola and No. 8/9 Ohio State)
- Rutgers would have 31 wins against ranked teams since 2003, with 15 of them coming against top-10 teams and five of them coming against top-5 teams.
- Under head coach Brian Brecht, a victory would be the 22nd ranked win, 11th top-10 win, and 3rd top-5 win (No. 4 Ohio State, 2019; No. 3 Ohio State, 2017).
- Rutgers would improve to 8-4 against ranked foes in the past two years (3-2 in true road games and 4-3 away from home).
- Rutgers would improve to 21-17 in regular season Big Ten Conference play and 13-5 over the past three seasons
- Rutgers would start Big Ten play at 3-0 for the second straight season, the only two times since joining the league in 2015 that RU has opened conference play 3-0.
- Give Brian Brecht his 80th win as Rutgers' head coach (in his 150th game at the helm).
Maryland enters the contest with a 9-0 record, which includes five ranked wins (four of them versus top-10 teams). The Terps have won seven of their nine games by five goals or more, with their closest contests coming versus No. 7 Notre Dame (11-9 win) and No. 9 Syracuse (14-10 win). They have started Big Ten play with road wins at Penn State (18-7) and Michigan (20-12).
Individually, Maryland is led by Logan Wisnauskas (27 goals, 24 assists for 51 points). He is supported by transfers Keegan Khan (16 goals, 16 assists) and Jonathan Donville (22 goals, six assists).
Goalkeeper Logan McNaney is fourth nationally with a 9.08 goals-against-average. Luke Weirman is second in the nation with a 66.4% winning percentage on faceoffs and fifth with 8.44 ground balls per game.
As a team, Maryland leads the nation in scoring margin (8.78), scoring offense (18.44), assists per game (10.44) and points per game (28.89). Rutgers is in the top-three nationally in three of those categories (points per game, 2
nd, scoring offense, 3
rd, scoring margin, 3
rd).
Rutgers and Maryland have played 33 times dating back to 1928. The lone win for Rutgers came in 1980 in College Park, as the eighth ranked Scarlet Knights upset second-ranked Maryland, 9-8, behind a four-goal final quarter at Byrd Stadium. Senior attackman Bobby Olsen led Rutgers with five goals and two assists while 2021 Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame inductee James Ford had two goals and three assists.
Since joining the Big Ten, the Terps are the only opponent that RU have not beaten in conference play. In that span, they have six wins over Ohio State, six wins over Michigan, five over Johns Hopkins and three over Penn State for a 20-17 Big Ten record. RU is 0-9 in Big Ten play against the Terps and 20-8 against the other four teams.
"Our guys earned a great win at home over Johns Hopkins. We'll digest that and then be focused and locked in on practice in order to be prepared to have success on Sunday night. The guys in the locker room have all their attention on Sunday night, and taking a good week of practice to prepare, understanding our opponent and playing to our strengths in that game."
"All year long, one of our main goals has been to just take it one day at a time, not look ahead to any opponent. To start the year, we did a great job of that and leading into Big Ten play, we've been taking it one day at a time, one practice at a time and having that all come together on game day. It was a great start for us to Big Ten play with wins against two quality teams in Ohio State and Johns Hopkins, so we're excited to be 2-0 right now. We're still focused on that one game at a time mentality as we prepare for this week's test."
"It's been a great season so far. In the locker room, everyone is really focused and ready to dive into the game plan. For the years I've been here and different cultures I've been a part of, this is one of the tightest groups we've had. Our transfers have fit in well, and our younger players have been stepping up. If we all focus and do our jobs, we'll be able to get the job done."
