PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men's lacrosse faceoff specialist Matthew Paolatto was named to the USILA Team of the Week following his standout performance taking faceoffs in the 10-6 win over Loyola last Saturday.  

Against the Greyhounds, Paolatto won 16-of-19 faceoffs, including 16 straight faceoffs to close out the game. The Sherborn, Mass. Native had the best faceoff winning percentage in a game (84.2%) since the 2019 season opener, an 83-game span.

Paolatto is sixth in the nation thus far with a 65.4% winning percentage at the 'X'. He's fourth in the Big Ten with 5.4 ground balls per game. He scooped a season-high seven ground balls in the win over the Greyhounds.

The performance was the second straight week that Paolatto was over 80% on faceoffs. The week before, facing No. 12 Army and returning First Team All-American Will Coletti, Paolatto won 12-of-15 faceoffs. He has won 28 of his last 34 faceoffs across the past two games.

Paolatto is the second Scarlet Knight to earn USILA Team of the Week honors this season. Joe Juengerkes earned the recognition earlier this season.

The team is back in action this weekend. RU will host St. Joe's on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the team's Youth Lacrosse Kickoff.