PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The 2025 Rutgers men's lacrosse season begins this weekend. The Scarlet Knights hit the road to play at Lehigh, who is ranked 20 in the USILA Coaches Poll. The game is Saturday, starting at noon, with a live stream on ESPN+.
Rutgers has won 12 straight season openers and has won 20 of their past 22 season openers. It marks the first season opener on the road since 2017 at St. John's. RU is 2-0 in season openers that come on the road under
Brian Brecht, both at St. John's (2017 and 2015).
Rutgers returns five players with more than two games started last season.
Tommy Mendyke and
Ben McKelvy started every game on defense. The Scarlet Knights also bring back their top long-stick midfielder,
Ryan Splaine, who had 16 caused turnovers and 40 ground balls last season.
RU brings back
Colin Kurdyla (20 goals, 10 assists),
Dante Kulas (16 goals, nine assists) and
Logan Peters among starters on the offensive end. RU graduated their top two goal scorers last season, and saw the departure of seven of their top nine goal scorers overall.
Cardin Stoller returns between the pipes after being named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year last season. Stoller had a 54.1 percent save percentage and 11.24 goals-against average last season, making 173 saves.
Lehigh was the Patriot League champions last year in head coach Will Scudder's first season. The Mountain Hawks went 10-7 overall and were 6-2 in Patriot League play, advancing to the NCAA Tournament and falling in the opening round to Big Ten foe Johns Hopkins.
The Mountain Hawks were picked to finish second in the Patriot League, behind future RU opponent Army West Point. Lehigh is ranked 20
th in the both the USILA Coaches Poll and the USA Lacrosse Magazine poll and is receiving votes in the Media Poll.
Junior defenseman Richard Checo was named a Preseason All-American (Third Team) by USA Lacrosse Magazine. The two-time first team all-conference selection had 48 caused turnovers last season, second in the nation per game. He was joined on the preseason all-league team by senior midfielder Dakota Eierman, who had 18 goals last season. Andrew Kelly is the team's leading returning scorer (27 goals, 16 assists last season). Sean Dow was second team all-league after winning 57.6% of faceoffs.
This will be the 51
st meeting all-time between the two schools, with Rutgers leading 41-8-1. Lehigh went 5-0-1 against Rutgers between 1887 and 1926, and since then RU is 41-3 against the Mountain Hawks. The Scarlet Knights have lost just once since 1961 and are 15-1 in the last 16 meetings.
Rutgers' 41 wins over Lehigh are the second most wins over any one team, trailing just the Penn State series (46 wins). This is the 4
th most played opponent in RU history, just behind its three rivals of Army, Princeton and Penn State.
Under head coach
Brian Brecht, RU is 3-1. The teams split a home-and-home series in 2018 and 2019. Rutgers went to Lehigh on a cold midweek and earned an 8-7 victory, with Jules Heningburg providing the decisive tally with 4:17 to play. The following year, No. 16 Lehigh earned a 13-10 win at SHI Stadium, despite four goals from Ryan Gallagher. The two teams last met in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, with RU earning a resounding 12-5 victory. The No. 9 Scarlet Knights toppled No. 8 seed Lehigh for the program's first NCAA Tournament victory since 1990 behind three goals apiece from Kieran Mullins, Adam Charalambides and Connor Kirst, with Colin Kirst making 17 saves.
Rutgers will return the trip to Lehigh after hosting them in last season's opener, a 14-12 win for the Scarlet Knights. Among returners,
Dante Kulas had five points (two goals, three assists). Andrew Kelly had four goals for Lehigh in the contest.
- 42-8-1 all-time against Lehigh, 42-3 since 1926 and 16-1 since 1961.
- 13-0 in last 13 season openers and 21-2 in last 23
- Rutgers would improve 13-1 in season openers under head coach Brian Brecht, with 13 straight season-opening wins.
- Head coach Brian Brecht's 100th career win at Rutgers
Rutgers returns home for two games next week. The Scarlet Knights home opener comes on Tuesday, February 4 at 3 pm when hosting LIU. Following that, Stony Brook visits on Saturday, February 8.
