PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men's lacrosse hits the road this weekend for a rivalry game up at West Point. It will be the Scarlet Knights against the Black Knights as RU faces No. 12 Army for a 12 p.m. game on Saturday, with a live stream on ESPN+.
The Scarlet Knights enter the game at 2-1 overall. RU grabbed wins over No. 20 Lehigh (10-6) and LIU (17-3) before falling to Stony Brook, 9-8.
Rutgers is in the top-five nationally in scoring defense (fourth, 6.0) and clearing percentage (fourth, 94.1%). Goalkeeper
Cardin Stoller, a member of the Tewaaraton Award Watch List, has a 64.0% save percentage on 10.67 saves per game.
The Scarlet Knights have held opponents under 10 goals in each of the first three games of the season (No. 20 Lehigh – 6, LIU – 3, Stony Brook – 9). This marks the second straight season that RU has had a three-game stretch of holding an opponent to single digits (vs. Loyola, Hofstra and Detroit Mercy from Feb. 24-March 5). Prior to that, it had not happened since 2018, when RU had a four-game stretch (vs. St. John's, Army, Fairfield and Brown from Feb. 10 to March 3).
On the offensive end, RU has seven players between three and five goals.
Colin Kelly and
Kasey Mongillo, each of whom has a hat trick in a game this season, have a team-high five goals.
JJ Aiello,
Colin Kurdyla,
Dante Kulas,
Joe Juengerkes and
Colin Zeller all have three.
Matthew Paolatto is 23-of-44 on faceoffs (53.3%) with 15 ground balls while
Ethan Barnard is 9-of-17 (52.9%).
Tommy Mendyke has 11 ground balls and five caused turnovers, sharing the team lead in CTs with
Ryan Splaine.
Army opened the season last weekend with a 16-9 win over UMass, a common opponent between the two teams. Jackson Eicher, who led the team last season with 37 goals and 58 points, was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week after tallying four goals and four assists in the game. Will Coletti, a unanimous All-American last season and the program record holder in faceoff wins and ground balls, was the Patriot League Specialist of the Week with a 15-of-23 mark at the 'X'. Coletti is a member of the Tewaaraton Award Watch List, where he is joined by midfielder Evan Plunkett (the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year and a First Team Preseason All-American) and defenseman AJ Pilate (a two-time Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year).
This will be the 87
th meeting between the two schools, the second most played rivalry in program history behind Princeton. The Scarlet Knights have won 25, with one tie. Army has claimed the last two games in the series. Since 2012, RU has four wins against Army (2014, 2016, 2017, 2022). The Scarlet Knights last win in West Point came in 2016.
This marks the second ranked team that RU will play this season, both on the road, after defeating No. 20 Lehigh. The Scarlet Knights are 17-17 against ranked teams dating back to 2021.
Rutgers returns home next weekend. The Scarlet Knights will host Loyola on Saturday, February 22 at 12 p.m.
