PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men's lacrosse has unveiled the schedule for the upcoming 2026 season. The Scarlet Knights will play a 14-game regular season slate, starting with the earliest game in program history with a January 31 opener.
Rutgers will face four of the top seven teams in last season's final RPI, and seven top 20 RPI teams from last season. The Scarlet Knights face four NCAA Tournament teams from last season.
The Scarlet Knights have four new teams on the schedule this season: Jacksonville, Villanova, Hofstra and Bellarmine. Those teams replace Lehigh, Loyola, St. Joe's and UMass. It will be the first meeting against Jacksonville since 2011, first meeting against Villanova since 2014, first meeting against Hofstra since 2024, and first ever meeting against Bellarmine.
Rutgers opens the season in Florida, heading to a neutral site in Naples, Florida to face Jacksonville in the season opener at the Paradise Coast Sports Complex. The Scarlet Knights host Army, Villanova, LIU and Hofstra in February non-conference games. The Scarlet Knights also make road trips during non-conference to Stony Brook, Princeton and St. John's. The Scarlet Knights' four road games during non-conference play are the most since 2022.
During Big Ten play, RU has three home conference games and two league games on the road. The Scarlet Knights will start Big Ten play by hosting Ohio State and then Johns Hopkins over the last two weekends in March. In April, RU travels to Michigan and Maryland, and then returns home for the regular season finale against Penn State.
The weekend of April 25 is the Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals. The following week, the Big Ten Tournament returns to Piscataway for just the second time, and first since 2019. Rutgers is the host site for the Big Ten Semifinal games (Thursday, April 30) and Title Game (Saturday, May 2).
All dates and times are subject to change and adjustments at a future date. The television schedule will be announced at a later date, which may lead to game date and time changes.
Rutgers will also have two preseason scrimmages. The Scarlet Knights are on the road at UMass for the first scrimmage on Saturday, January 17, then host BU for a scrimmage on Saturday, January 24.
2026 Season Schedule
- Saturday, January 31 vs. Jacksonville (Naples, Florida), 2 pm
- Saturday, February 7 vs. Army, 1 pm
- Saturday, February 14 at Stony Brook, 12 pm
- Saturday, February 21 vs. Villanova, 1 pm
- Tuesday, February 24 vs. LIU, 3 pm
- Saturday, February 28 vs. Hofstra, 3 pm
- Saturday, March 7 at Princeton, TBD
- Tuesday, March 10 at St. John's, 3 pm
- Saturday, March 14 vs. Bellarmine, 12 pm
- Saturday, March 21 vs. Ohio State, TBD
- Saturday, March 28 vs. Johns Hopkins, TBD
- Saturday, April 4 at Michigan, TBD
- Saturday, April 11 at Maryland, TBD
- Saturday, April 18 vs. Penn State, TBD
- Saturday, April 25 – Big Ten Quarterfinals, TBD
- Thursday, April 30 – Big Ten Semifinals (SHI Stadium), TBD
- Saturday, May 2 – Big Ten Championship Game (SHI Stadium), TBD
