No. 19 Men’s Lacrosse Hosts Ohio State Saturday - Rutgers University Athletics (2024)

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 19 Rutgers men's lacrosse is back in action this weekend in Big Ten Conference play. The Scarlet Knights will host Ohio State this Saturday at 4:30 pm. The game will be streaming on B1G+, with Dom Savino and Rick Mercurio on the call.

The Scarlet Knights return home to SHI Stadium for the afternoon tilt. RU has a total accumulated attendance of 9,499 thus far this season, seventh nationally, averaging 1,583 fans per game, with over 2,600 fans at each of the last two games. The game last weekend against Johns Hopkins on Saturday on Big Ten Network averaged 42,000 viewers, the second-most viewed NCAA lacrosse game of the year.

Rutgers enters the week at 6-3 overall with a 0-1 record in league play after a 13-8 loss to No. 11 Johns Hopkins Sunday. Against Johns Hopkins, Rutgers had a season-low 10 turnovers and a season-high nine caused turnovers. The team is first in the nation with just 13.22 turnovers per game this year.

Shane Knobloch has excelled at midfield this year and was recently ranked as the No. 6 prospect in the upcoming PLL Draft on Paul Carcaterra's Big Board. Knobloch had his fifth hat trick of the season against JHU and leads the team with 22 goals. His 2.44 goals per game is tied for fourth best among the nation's midfielders.

Jack Aimone has 17 goals on the year, second on the team. Freshman midfielder Colin Kurdyla is tied for third on the squad with 13 goals and third with 21 points on eight assists. RU's starting midfield trio of Knobloch, Aimone and Kurdyla have combined for 52 goals this season through nine games, with that midfield line averaging just under six goals per game (5.78 combined).

Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Cardin Stoller has a 54.5% save percentage and 10.65 goals-against average in the cage. Cole Brams has won 84-of-150 faceoffs (56.0%) this year with a team-high 43 ground balls.

Ohio State is 5-5 on the year after opening league play with a 12-9 loss last weekend to Penn State. OSU opened the year 4-0 with wins over Utah, Cleveland State, Bellarmine and Air Force. Since then, the Buckeyes are 1-5 with losses to Virginia, Cornell, Notre Dame, Denver and PSU, with the lone win in that span over mutual opponent Detroit Mercy. Since February 17, Ohio State has been outscored 73-60, averaging 10 goals per game.

The Buckeyes boast the 12^th best scoring defense in the nation, second in the league at 9.7 goals allowed per game. Goalkeeper Caleb Fyock boasts a 9.56 goals-against-average but is fifth in the league in save percentage (53.1%).

Offensively, Alex Marinier leads the team with 17 goals, followed closely by Gannon Matthews and Ben Mayer with 16. Ed Shean (12 goals, 10 assists) has a team-high 22 points. Tommy Burke is at 56.5% on faceoffs (91-of-161).

Rutgers leads the all-time series 13-4 against Ohio State. The Scarlet Knights have won five of the past six games against Ohio State, with RU's five-game winning streak broken last year in Columbus. The Scarlet Knights have won seven of the 10 matchups since joining the league. Rutgers is 6-1 home games against Ohio State. The Scarlet Knights downed the Buckeyes 18-7 last March in their last visit to SHI Stadium.

Ross Scott(168 career points) needs five points to tie Brody Bush for 14^thall-time at RU, and six points to tie Bob Andrews for 13^th.

• 14-4 all-time against Ohio State, with wins in six of the past seven and eight of the past 11.

Rutgers returns to the road for its next two games, against a pair of ranked Big Ten teams. The Scarlet Knights play at 7 p.m. Sunday at No. 15 Michigan on BTN, then the following Saturday at No. 12 Maryland, also on BTN.