PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men's lacrosse was well represented in the 2022 season of the Premier Lacrosse League, as the Scarlet Knights continue to produce players that achieve at the professional level following graduation. 11 total alumni of the men's lacrosse program were on rosters for PLL this season. An exciting summer of following alumns at the pro level saw four PLL debuts, two players play in the All-Star game and culminated with Christian Scarpello helping lead the Waterdogs to a trophy in his first ever professional championship.
Alumns in the 2022 PLL Season #BuiltInNewBrunswick
Waterdogs: Christian Scarpello, Christian Mazzone
Scarpello saw action in six games over the regular season, collecting four caused turnovers, three ground balls, and one assist. He was also active in all three postseason games for the Waterdogs through their unbeaten playoffs run, picking up an assist in the quarterfinals and a ground ball in the semifinals. The short stick midfielder has seen action in 16 career games with 13 ground balls, six caused turnovers and two assists over two seasons with the Waterdogs.
Christian Mazzone also saw action in one game for the Waterdogs this season, collecting three ground balls in a game versus the Cannons in June.
Whipsnakes: Joe Nardella, Connor Kirst, Brennan Kamish
Joe Nardella once again shone as one of the top faceoff men in the world and was again a Finalist for the league's Faceoff Athlete of the Year award and was named to the All-Star team for the fourth time in his career. Nardella won 65% of his faceoffs in the regular season (149-of-229), with 81 ground balls, three goals and three assists. He also won 13 more faceoffs in the postseason matchup with the Waterdogs. He was second in the league in faceoff percentage and third in the league in ground balls. His 65% at the 'X' was the second best total of his nine-year pro career, and he was named Second Team All-Pro.
Connor Kirst had a strong year in 10 games played as he collected 13 ground balls, scored six goals, and had five caused turnovers and one assist. Kirst was also named as one of the three finalists for the league's Teammate of the Year Award.
Brennan Kamish made his professional debut at defensive midfield for the Whipsnakes. He played in five games and in that span collected eight ground balls with four caused turnovers.
Redwoods: Jules Heningburg, Mitch Bartolo
Jules Henignburg continues his successful pro career with another season that saw him make an all-star game appearance. The midfielder kicked off his season with five goals in the opener, and then overall had 21 points (12 goals and nine assists) along with 10 ground balls over 10 games.
Mitch Bartolo made his PLL debut this summer, getting into one contest with the Redwoods and collecting a ground ball.
Cannons: Adam Charalambides, Colin Kirst
Charalambides made his PLL debut over the summer, following a successful indoor season in the NLL. Charalambides got into three regular season games at attack, scoring three goals and collecting four caused turnovers.
Kirst made his professional debut with a start in the Cannons' regular season finale, facing off against his brother Connor and the Whipsnakes. Colin made nine saves and had a ground ball in his debut.
Atlas: Michael Rexrode, Kyle Pless
Rexrode excelled again as one of the league's top defenders for the Atlas. He played in 10 regular season games, collecting 22 ground balls and had six caused turnovers in that span. Rexrode also had two caused turnovers and a ground ball in his lone postseason game.
Pless began the season as a long-stick midfielder on the roster of the Atlas but did not see game action in 2022.
