PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men's lacrosse is back on the road for its next two games on the rugged road of the Big Ten. The Scarlet Knights play next on Sunday night at No. 15/16 Michigan, a 7 p.m. game on Big Ten Network, with Jack Kizer and Mark Dixon on the call.
Rutgers enters the game with a 6-4 overall record and a 0-2 mark in league play. RU opened the year with a 5-1 mark but has dropped contests to teams in the top-18 of this week's RPI: Johns Hopkins (4), Princeton (14) and Ohio State (18). The Scarlet Knights are 3-0 away from home this season (2-0 in true road games at Stony Brook and Loyola, and 1-0 at a neutral site on Long Island). The team is looking for its first ranked win since defeating No. 16 Michigan last season in overtime (April 12, 2024).
As a team, Rutgers is second nationally in turnovers per game with just 13.4 per game. The Scarlet Knights had the fewest turnovers in the nation per game the last two seasons as well and have finished each season since 2019 ranked seventh or better in the nation in the stat category.
Freshman midfielder
Colin Kurdyla scored two goals against Ohio State and tied a career-high with two ground balls. It was his fourth multi-goal game of the season, and he leads all Big Ten freshmen in goals (15), assists (8) and points (23).
Rutgers entered the week as the only team in Division I with three midfielders having scored at least 15 goals this season.
Shane Knobloch's 24 goals are the fifth most of any midfielder nationally, and the second most of any Big Ten midfielder.
Jack Aimone also posted 18 goals and has an even 50 points in his 24 games played over the past two seasons as an upperclassman.
Cardin Stoller has a .535 save percentage and 11.02 goals-against-average with 116 saves.
Cole Brams is at 55.2% on faceoffs (96-of-174).
The Wolverines enter the week ranked No. 15 nationally with a 6-4 overall record and 1-1 league mark. UM's losses have come to ranked foes in No. 8 Hopkins, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 19 Harvard and No. 3 Virginia, with ranked wins over No. 7 Maryland and No. 19 Delaware. The 12-11 win over the Terps is the lone victory in a current 1-3 stretch over their past four games. Michigan ranks fourth nationally in assists, fifth in man-up offense, seventh in faceoff percentage and ninth in points per game, leading the Big Ten in each category.
Justin Tiernan has 40 goals for the season. His 4.0 goals per game lead the nation. Justin Wietfeldt is third nationally with 9.5 ground balls per game and eighth in the nation with a 62.3% winning percentage at the 'X', leading the league in both categories. Attackmen Michael Boehm (21 goals, 24 assists for a team-high 45 points) and Ryan Cohen (21 goals, 22 assists) supplemented the offense. Boehm, Wietfeldt (Honorable Mention) and midfielder Beau Pederson (Frist Team) were named to the Inside Lacrosse Midseason All-American list. Goalkeeper Hunter Taylor is at 11.91 goals-against-average with a 48.3 save percentage.
Rutgers is 9-1 all-time against Michigan, in a series that dates back to 2012, with their only loss coming in 2015. RU is on an eight-game winning streak, with their past three meetings being won by a 13-12 score line. Last season, the Scarlet Knights prevailed in overtime, as
Shane Knobloch scored the game-winner on the first possession of the extra session. RU is 3-1 in road games at Michigan and 2-0 in games against the Wolverines at the UM Lacrosse Stadium, which opened in 2018.
- Ninth straight win over Michigan, the longest winning streak over any Big Ten foe
- 10-1 all-time against Michigan
- First ranked win of the season
- Improving to 4-0 away from home
Ross Scott has 171 career points, 15
th all-time at RU. He is within reach of Brody Bush (14
th, 173), Bob Andrews (13
th, 174), John Danowski (12
th, 177) and Greg Rinaldi (11
th, 178) on RU's all-time lists.
Shane Knobloch has 93 career goals, seven away from 100. Earlier this season,
Ross Scott became the 12
th player to reach 100 career goals in a Rutgers uniform.
Rutgers will play its final three games of the regular season in primetime slots on the Big Ten Network. Following the matchup with the Wolverines are games at No. 6/9 Maryland (Saturday, April 13, 7 pm) and hosting No. 7/8 Penn State (Friday, April 19, 6 pm) that will also air on BTN.
