PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men's lacrosse will play a rivalry game on Saturday night. The Scarlet Knights will head down to Princeton to battle for the Tots Meistrell Cup.
It will be a 7 p.m. game on Saturday night, with a live stream on ESPN+ with Cody Chrusciel and Dave Giancola on the call. The 102
nd meeting between the teams represents the eighth longest played rivalry in Division I men's lacrosse. The meeting with No. 4 Princeton is the third ranked opponent this year for RU.
Rutgers comes into the game having split their first three contests. RU claimed wins at No. 20 Lehigh and over Loyola and LIU. The team fell to No. 12 Army, St. Joe's (No. 17 in the RPI) and Stony Brook.
The Scarlet Knights are third nationally with 7.17 goals-per-game allowed. Rutgers has allowed double-digit goals just once and have held an opponent to 6 goals or below in three of the six games. RU has caused 52 turnovers on the year, an average of 9 per game.
Short stick defensive midfielder
Joe Juengerkes is in his first season as a Scarlet Knight following three seasons on the field for Princeton. As a Tiger, Juengerkes had 11 caused turnovers and 14 ground balls in 32 career games. Through his first six games 'On the Banks', he has caused six turnovers with 20 ground balls.
Goalkeeper
Cardin Stoller is sixth nationally in goals-against-average and fifth in save percentage (63.9%).
Matthew Paolatto is eighth in the country, winning 64 percent of his faceoffs.
LSM
Ryan Splaine averages 2.0 caused turnovers per game, fourth in the Big Ten and 19
th nationally. Rutgers' starting close defense group of
Tommy Mendyke,
Ben McKelvy and
Ben Stephanos have combined for 35 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers.
Princeton, coming off two straight Ivy League Tournament championships, opened the year with a 3-1 record, with all three wins coming away from home. The Tigers boast wins over No. 10 Penn State (overtime), No. 7 Duke and No. 4 UNC, with the lone loss coming to this week's top-ranked team, Maryland.
Princeton leads the NCAA currently with just 11.75 turnovers per game. The man-up offense is at 66.7 percent, fourth nationally.
Coulter Mackesy averages 3.5 goals per game, eighth nationally, after posting 123 goals in his first three seasons. He's the Tigers' point leader with 19 (14 goals, five assists). David Columbo has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) while Nate Kabiri (32 goals as a freshman last year) has 10 (four goals, six assists). Sean Cameron, younger brother of former Rutgers' attackman Brian Cameron, has four goals.
Goalkeeper Ryan Croddick saves 51.5% of shots with 13.0 shots per game. The Tigers win just 34.2% of faceoffs, 71
st of the 74 NCAA teams. Captain Michael Bath leads the team with seven caused turnovers after pacing the Ivy League with 26 last season.
The Tigers hold a 65-32-3 advantage overall. The teams have faced off against one another consistently every season since 1922, with the exception of 1944 and 1945 for World War II and the Covid-impacted 2021 schedule. The Meistrell Cup, the trophy the game is contested for, is named in honor of U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Famer Harland (Tots) Meistrell, who restarted the lacrosse programs at both schools in the early 1920s. Since 2017, when Rutgers snapped an 11-game losing streak in the series, RU is 3-4 against Princeton.
A win over No. 4 Princeton would represent:
- Second ranked win of the season
- First top-5 win since defeating No. 5 Loyola on Feb. 25, 2023
- First road win over Princeton since 1989
Rutgers has twice defeated the No. 3 team in the nation (No. 3 Penn in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, No. 3 UMass in 2003. A win over No. 4 would mark a tie for the third highest ranked win in program history. The last time RU defeated the No. 4 team in the nation was a win over No. 4 Ohio State in 2019.
Rutgers returns home for a two-game week. The Scarlet Knights host St. John's on Tuesday, then UMass on Saturday.
