Saturday, February 21
Piscataway, N.J.
1:00 PM
Rutgers University
vs
Villanova
Photo by: Mark Brown
No. 19 Men’s Lacrosse Begins Homestand With Villanova
Feb 19 | Men's Lacrosse
Saturday, 1 PM Game at SHI Stadium
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - No. 19 Rutgers men's lacrosse readies for its fourth game of the season. The Scarlet Knights hold a 2-1 record and will play outdoors in SHI Stadium for the first time this season. Villanova comes in on Saturday for a 1 pm game. The game will be live streamed, with Alex Schoen and Rick Mercurio providing the broadcast call for B1G+. Kids who wear a jersey to the game will get in for free.
Colin Kurdyla leads the team with 11 goals on the year. He has scored at least two goals in every game this season and at least two goals in five straight games dating back to last season. It is a 12-game goal scoring streak for him overall.
Greyson Vorgang, who had his first multi-goal game of his career with two goals against Army, moved into the starting lineup for the first time against Stony Brook and scored three times. Vorgang, who had four goals in his first collegiate season last year, has five goals in the past two games.
Justin Lawler had his second career hat trick against Stony Brook. He had previously done so in last season's finale against Ohio State at the Big Ten Tournament (two hat tricks in last four games overall).
Cardin Stoller, a member of the Tewaaraton Award Watch List, has a 52.2% save percentage after three straight games of double-digit saves. Stoller and Kurdyla were joined by LSM Ryan Splaine and SSDM Joe Juengerkes as Preseason All-Americans.
Brian Brecht's next victory will be the 175th of his career and 110th of his Rutgers career.
Villanova is 1-1 on the season with a pair of disparate results. The Wildcats opened the season with one of the most notable results of the opening weekend, heading to Penn State, and taking down the No. 7 Wildcats inside Holuba Hall. Nick Luchesi had a hat trick against the Big Ten foe and Dan Martin put home the winner in overtime.
After rising as high as No. 14 in the national polls following the win, Villanova hosted St. Joe's in game two. The Hawks, who were coming off a 20-2 loss at No. 2 Syracuse in their season opener under a new head coach, earned an 11-9 win over Villanova to drop the Wildcats to 1-1, racing out to an 8-1 lead after the first quarter and holding on.
Junior long-stick midfielder Jake Melchioni was named a Preseason All-American by multiple outlets. An Honorable Mention All-American last year, he had 50 ground balls and 25 caused turnovers, along with eight goals, and is on the Tewaaraton Award Watch List. He was joined by Colin Michener (40 points last season) and Jack Shoemaker (17 caused turnovers) as three preseason all-conference selections.
Villanova was voted second in the BIG EAST Preseason Poll, just behind Georgetown, also receiving one first place vote. The squad was 8-7 last year and 9-7 the year before that, each time losing in the finals of the BIG EAST Tournament. Mike Corrado is at his 20th season at the helm of the program with three NCAA Tournaments, most recently 2018.
A common opponent for RU recently in spring scrimmages, the Scarlet Knights and Wildcats have not met in the regular season since 2014. The all-time series is tied at 6-6, with each team winning six straight in the series. RU won the first six meetings, from 1992 to 1997. The teams met annually from 2009-2014 in the BIG EAST with Villanova winning all six matchups there. A win would represent the first victory for Rutgers over Villanova since 1997.
The game marks the first of three home games in eight days for RU. On Tuesday, LIU visits at 3 pm for the lone midweek game of the year. Hofstra comes in on Saturday, February 28 to complete the trio.
| About Rutgers |
Colin Kurdyla leads the team with 11 goals on the year. He has scored at least two goals in every game this season and at least two goals in five straight games dating back to last season. It is a 12-game goal scoring streak for him overall.
Greyson Vorgang, who had his first multi-goal game of his career with two goals against Army, moved into the starting lineup for the first time against Stony Brook and scored three times. Vorgang, who had four goals in his first collegiate season last year, has five goals in the past two games.
Justin Lawler had his second career hat trick against Stony Brook. He had previously done so in last season's finale against Ohio State at the Big Ten Tournament (two hat tricks in last four games overall).
Cardin Stoller, a member of the Tewaaraton Award Watch List, has a 52.2% save percentage after three straight games of double-digit saves. Stoller and Kurdyla were joined by LSM Ryan Splaine and SSDM Joe Juengerkes as Preseason All-Americans.
Brian Brecht's next victory will be the 175th of his career and 110th of his Rutgers career.
| About Villanova |
Villanova is 1-1 on the season with a pair of disparate results. The Wildcats opened the season with one of the most notable results of the opening weekend, heading to Penn State, and taking down the No. 7 Wildcats inside Holuba Hall. Nick Luchesi had a hat trick against the Big Ten foe and Dan Martin put home the winner in overtime.
After rising as high as No. 14 in the national polls following the win, Villanova hosted St. Joe's in game two. The Hawks, who were coming off a 20-2 loss at No. 2 Syracuse in their season opener under a new head coach, earned an 11-9 win over Villanova to drop the Wildcats to 1-1, racing out to an 8-1 lead after the first quarter and holding on.
Junior long-stick midfielder Jake Melchioni was named a Preseason All-American by multiple outlets. An Honorable Mention All-American last year, he had 50 ground balls and 25 caused turnovers, along with eight goals, and is on the Tewaaraton Award Watch List. He was joined by Colin Michener (40 points last season) and Jack Shoemaker (17 caused turnovers) as three preseason all-conference selections.
Villanova was voted second in the BIG EAST Preseason Poll, just behind Georgetown, also receiving one first place vote. The squad was 8-7 last year and 9-7 the year before that, each time losing in the finals of the BIG EAST Tournament. Mike Corrado is at his 20th season at the helm of the program with three NCAA Tournaments, most recently 2018.
| About the Series |
A common opponent for RU recently in spring scrimmages, the Scarlet Knights and Wildcats have not met in the regular season since 2014. The all-time series is tied at 6-6, with each team winning six straight in the series. RU won the first six meetings, from 1992 to 1997. The teams met annually from 2009-2014 in the BIG EAST with Villanova winning all six matchups there. A win would represent the first victory for Rutgers over Villanova since 1997.
| Up Next |
The game marks the first of three home games in eight days for RU. On Tuesday, LIU visits at 3 pm for the lone midweek game of the year. Hofstra comes in on Saturday, February 28 to complete the trio.
Players Mentioned
Midfield
/ Men's Lacrosse
Attack
/ Men's Lacrosse
Midfield
/ Men's Lacrosse
Long-Stick Midfield
/ Men's Lacrosse
Goalkeeper
/ Men's Lacrosse
Attack
/ Men's LacrosseRutgers Athletics Launches the Athletic Excellence Fund
Monday, October 06
Men's Lacrosse 2025 Season Recap
Wednesday, July 09
Men's Lacrosse Upsets No. 2 Maryland 8-6
Wednesday, April 09
R Fund, Knights of the Raritan are YouKnighted | Million Dollar Match
Friday, February 28
