Men’s Lacrosse 2023 Season Review
Jul 20 | Men's Lacrosse
Rutgers men’s lacrosse recently concluded a 2023 campaign that saw a number of on-field successes and individual accolades. The Scarlet Knights’ wrapped the season ranked at No. 15 in the RPI, claimed wins over four-NCAA Tournament teams, three teams in the top-15 of the RPI, and their 8-6 record saw five of the six losses come to NCAA Tournament teams, including four against seeded (top-8) teams in the NCAA Tournament bracket. Over the season, the team claimed a top-five win and wins against the Big Ten Tournament (Michigan), Ivy League Tournament (Princeton), Atlantic Sun Tournament (Utah) and MAAC Tournament (Marist) champions. Rutgers spent the entire season in the national polls, frequently in the top-10 and peaking at No. 6.
Over the past three full seasons since returning from the shortened 2020 campaign, RU is 32-14. In that time, the Scarlet Knights claimed 13 ranked wins. RU has 36 ranked wins since 2003, and 26 of them have come since 2012 under head coach Brian Brecht.
Gallery: Best Photos from Men's Lacrosse 2023
The Scarlet Knights got off to a great start in the 2023 season, opening the season with a 7-1 nonconference mark.
That hot start included:
- A 20-8 win over Marist to open the year. The Red Foxes went on to win 10 games and make the NCAA Tournament.
- A 10-6 win over a Loyola team ranked No. 5 in the nation at the time, the program’s third top-five victory since 2019.
- An 18-14 win over Utah, who went on to finish 12-5, wining their league to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
- An overtime win (14-13) over in-state rival Princeton, featuring an emotional raising of the Tots Meistrell Cup with long-time equipment manager Uly Molina.
- A resounding 11-5 win at UMass.
The lone loss in non-conference play came in a one-goal loss at Army, who would win a first round NCAA Tournament game.
Rutgers claimed just one additional win in Big Ten play, competing hard in a top league that saw all six of its programs ranked in the national polls throughout much of the season.
The team’s Big Ten win came in dramatic fashion against No. 16 Michigan, as Shane Knobloch put in the game-winner in overtime for a 13-12 win. Brian Cameron had four goals in the game, while Knobloch had three plus an assist.
Rutgers also set a program record for attendance at the Maryland game. 5,823 fans attended the Senior Day matchup, the third time over the past two seasons that RU drew over 5,000 fans for a game. It was the fourth largest attendance for any regular season men’s lacrosse game.
RU excelled at SHI Stadium, finishing with just one home loss, and are 14-1 at home over the past two seasons and 18-2 at home over the past three campaigns.
- Rutgers finished number one in the nation in turnovers for the second straight season.
- The Scarlet Knights also led the Big Ten in caused turnovers (8.36) and scoring defense (10.79).
- Kyle Mullin led the Big Ten in goals-against-average (10.65).
- Brian Cameron led the team with 26 goals despite being fully healthy for just 10 of the 14 games.
- Ross Scott led the team with 42 points and shared second place in goals (25) with Dante Kulas and Jack Aimone.
- Shane Knobloch tied with Ross Scott for the team lead in assists (17), finishing second on the team in points (38) after scoring 21 goals.
- Ethan Rall finished his career with 85 caused turnovers, setting a new RU program record.
All-Americans (USILA)
- Ethan Rall: First Team
- Shane Knobloch: Second Team
- Ross Scott: Honorable Mention
Noah Daniels was named an Honorable Mention All-American by USA Lacrosse Magazine
All-Big Ten
- Ethan Rall: Second Team
- Shane Knobloch: Second Team
- Ross Scott: Second Team
- Jack Aimone: Sportsmanship Award
USILA Senior All-Star Game
- Brad Apgar, Jonathan Dugenio, Bobby Russo, David Sprock
All-ECAC
- Ethan Rall: First Team
- Shane Knobloch: First Team
Tewaaraton Award Watch List
- Ross Scott, Shane Knobloch, Ethan Rall
USILA Scholar All-American
- Ross Scott, Bobby Russo, Brad Apgar, David Sprock, Jonathan Dugenio
Big Ten Distinguished Scholar
- Eric Civetti, Jack Crosby, Andrew Kim, Justin Lawler, Ethan Rall, Mason Rickens
Academic All-Big Ten
- Jack Aimone, Brad Apgar, Brian Cameron, Eric Civetti, Jack Crosby, Jonathan Dugenio, Liam Gray, Andrew Kim, Justin Kim, Shane Knobloch, Justin Lawler, Tommy Mendyke, Logan Peters, Ethan Rall, Remington Reynolds, Mason Rickens, Brian Russo, Bobby Russo, Ross Scott, David Sprock, Jack Stahanczyk, Nick Teresky, Kyle Tietjen
Rutgers continued its tradition of placing players in the professional ranks, with Ethan Rall signing with the PLL’s Cannons. Seven Scarlet Knights (Rall, Jules Heningburg, Michael Rexrode, Connor Kirst, Colin Kirst Adam Charalambides and Christian Scarpello) have seen action with PLL teams, along with Joe Nardella, who has been a PLL fixture but is rehabbing from an injury. Colin Kirst was named to the PLL All-Star game as a member of the ‘Rising Stars’ team, and Ethan Rall is second in the league in caused turnovers at the All-Star break.
