When the Big Ten made lacrosse a conference sport, adding Rutgers and Maryland, they knew it would be a big boost for the conference, the sport, and the teams involved. But Rutgers was not expecting what is happening to it so far this season.
The men are 2-5, the women 1-5. And while conference play hasn't yet started, both squads sit at the bottom of their respective standings based on the non-con slate to date.
MEN | Overall | ||
W-L | % | ||
Maryland | 4-1 | 0.800 | |
Ohio State | 5-2 | 0.714 | |
Johns Hopkins | 3-3 | 0.500 | |
Michigan | 3-3 | 0.500 | |
Penn State | 2-3 | 0.400 | |
Rutgers | 2-5 | 0.286 | |
Standings current through Saturday, March 8. | |||
WOMEN | Overall | ||
W-L | % | ||
Maryland | 5-0 | 1.000 | |
Ohio State | 6-1 | 0.857 | |
Penn State | 4-1 | 0.800 | |
Northwestern | 4-2 | 0.667 | |
Michigan | 3-2 | 0.600 | |
Rutgers | 1-5 | 0.167 | |
Standings current through Saturday, March 8. |
Women
The women lost their last two contests by a combined score of 35-14. Add in the Delaware game reported last week, and the total goes to 47-21.
Against UConn, the team made it a one-score game entering halftime, but UConn pulled away in the second half on its way to an 18-7 win Saturday afternoon in Storrs.
Redshirt senior midfielder Lauren Sbrilli recorded a hat trick before halftime to lead Rutgers in scoring. Senior attack Melissa Arthur assisted on a career-high four goals in the opening stanza and scored a goal in a five-point outing to assume the Scarlet Knights' points lead with 14 on the season. Her 11 assists through six games is good for third in the Big Ten.
Sbrilli pulled into a tie for second in goals with sophomore Amanda Turturro and junior Halley Barnes with nine overall. Adding scores Saturday against the Huskies were Turturro, junior Kim Kolodny and senior Jenny Vlahos.
3/04/15 |
No. 13/13 Penn |
Highpoint Solutions Stadium |
L, 17-7 |
3/07/15 |
at Connecticut |
Storrs, Conn. |
L, 18-7 |
3/11/15 |
vs. Temple |
Highpoint Solutions Stadium |
6:00 p.m. ET |
3/14/15 |
at James Madison |
Harrisonburg, Va. |
1:00 p.m. ET |
Men
Despite four goals from Christian Trasolini, Rutgers men's lacrosse fell 13-9 to Stony Brook on Sunday afternoon at High Point Solutions Stadium in front of 835 fans. The Scarlet Knights held a 34-28 advantage in ground balls and outshot the Seawolves (5-1), 34-22, in the contest.
Brian Goss also produced multiple goals for the Scarlet Knights with two scores, and Scott Bieda had four assists, while Joe Nardella was 20-26 on faceoffs with 11 ground balls.
"We played another good team today, and we had our chances," head coach Brian Brecht said. "We were able to accomplish some of the things that we wanted to do, but missed out on some opportunities. When you play a good team, you have to make the most of your chances to have success."
Rutgers started strong out of the gate, opening up a 3-0 lead early in the game. Trasolini scored goals on the game's first two possessions, and Jeff George quickly tallied as well to put the Scarlet Knights ahead early.
Stony Brook countered with its own run, tying the game at 3-3 after one quarter. Trasolini completed the hat trick in the second quarter, but the Seawolves continued their scoring to take a 6-4 lead over RU at the half.
In the second half, Goss scored two goals, but again Stony Brook had an answer, as they stretched their lead to 12-7. Trasolini and Ryan Hollingsworth had late tallies, but the Seawolves closed out a 13-9 victory.
"The margin of victory is razor thin," Brecht said. "With a young group, each week we're working to get better. We have the whole week this week to get better and work on Rutgers. We can recover, take care of ourselves, and also take the full week to game plan for our next opponent."
3/08/15 |
vs. Stony Brook |
Highpoint Solutions Stadium |
L, 13-9 |
3/14/15 |
at University of Delaware |
Newark, Del. |
12:00 p.m. ET |
Senior Class Award Finalist
Rutgers senior midfielder Joe Nardella is one of 20 NCAA Division I men's lacrosse senior athletes to be named a finalist for the 2015 Senior CLASS Award, it was announced Wednesday.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School ®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
In the Big Ten
Men's Players of the Week
Offensive Player of the Week
Wells Stanwick, Johns Hopkins, A – Sr. – Baltimore, Md.
- Scored three goals and added three assists en route to six points in the Blue Jays’ 13-8 win over Navy
- Posted his 20th career game with four or more points and 10th career hat trick
- Extended his point-scoring streak to 25 games
Defensive Player of the Week
Casey Ikeda, Maryland, D – Sr. – Berwyn, Pa.
- Led a Terrapin defense that held nationally ranked Princeton to just four goals in an 11-4 victory
- Gathered one ground ball and caused one turnover
- Added an assist on Matt Rambo’s goal in the third quarter
Specialist of the Week
Tom Carey, Ohio State, G – So. – New Canaan, Conn.
- Collected a career high 13 saves, including six in the fourth quarter, in the Buckeyes’ 9-8 win over Hofstra
- Tallied two saves in the first and third quarters, and three in the second frame
- Recorded three ground balls
Freshman of the Week
Shack Stanwick, Johns Hopkins, A – Fr. – Baltimore, Md
- Scored three goals on five shots against Navy
- Added an assist and collected a pair of ground balls
- Secured his second-career hat trick
Inside Lacrosse Men's Media Top 20
RANK |
SCHOOL |
RECORD |
POINTS |
PREVIOUS |
1 |
Syracuse (19) |
5-0 |
472 |
1 |
2 |
North Carolina (5) |
6-0 |
461 |
2 |
3 |
Denver |
4-1 |
432 |
4 |
4 |
Notre Dame |
3-1 |
398 |
3 |
5 |
Duke |
6-1 |
394 |
5 |
6 |
Yale |
5-0 |
346 |
6 |
7 |
Virginia |
4-1 |
342 |
7 |
8 |
Maryland |
4-1 |
310 |
9 |
9 |
Cornell |
3-2 |
288 |
7 |
10 |
Marquette |
7-0 |
251 |
13 |
11 |
Albany |
2-1 |
213 |
12 |
12 |
Princeton |
3-1 |
206 |
10 |
13 |
Harvard |
3-1 |
190 |
16 |
14 |
Army |
5-2 |
139 |
11 |
15 |
Villanova |
4-1 |
128 |
19 |
16 |
Johns Hopkins |
3-3 |
120 |
17 |
17 |
Loyola |
3-3 |
117 |
14 |
18 |
Brown |
4-0 |
94 |
NR |
19 |
Towson |
4-2 |
79 |
15 |
20 |
Holy Cross |
3-2 |
22 |
NR |
Dropped out: No. 18 Colgate, No. 20 Pennsylvania.
Also receiving votes: Stony Brook, Boston University, Navy, Colgate, Bucknell, Pennsylvania.
Women's Players of the Week
Offensive Player of the Week
Taylor Cummings, Maryland, M – Jr. – Ellicott City, Md.
- Scored a combined 10 goals in Maryland’s wins over UMBC and nationally ranked Syracuse
- Scored four goals and added an assist in the Terrapins’ 14-7 win over UMBC
- Recorded eight draw controls and caused two turnovers against UMBC
- Scored six goals and added one assist in the 10-7 victory over Syracuse
- Collected six draw controls, caused two turnovers and gathered two ground balls against Syracuse
Defensive Player of the Week
Bridget Bianco, Northwestern, GK – Sr. – Moorestown, N.J. – Moorestown
- Recorded 12 saves in the Wildcats’ 14-8 win over Colorado, her third double-digit save effort of the season
- Tallied 10 saves in the first 30 minutes of play
- Held Colorado to 3-for-7 on free-position opportunities
Freshman of the Week
Mae Tarr, Michigan, M – Fr. – Parkville, Md.
- Scored five goals on seven shots and added an assist in the Wolverines’ 22-8 win over St. Mary’s
- Recorded the eventual game-winning goal against the Gaels
- Set a school record with seven draw controls while also adding three ground balls and one caused turnover
Inside Lacrosse Women's Media Top 20
RANK |
SCHOOL |
RECORD |
POINTS |
PREVIOUS |
1 |
Maryland (14) |
3-0 |
280 |
1 |
2 |
North Carolina |
5-1 |
259 |
3 |
3 |
Duke |
6-0 |
255 |
4 |
4 |
Boston College |
4-0 |
236 |
6 |
5 |
Syracuse |
5-1 |
220 |
2 |
6 |
Florida |
3-1 |
219 |
5 |
7 |
Northwestern |
3-2 |
193 |
7 |
8 |
Virginia |
2-2 |
173 |
9 |
9 |
Princeton |
3-0 |
148 |
11 |
10 |
Ohio State |
5-1 |
145 |
8 |
11 |
Stanford |
3-0 |
142 |
14 |
12 |
Penn State |
3-1 |
141 |
10 |
13 |
Penn |
1-0 |
105 |
13 |
14 |
Louisville |
2-0 |
102 |
15 |
15 |
Notre Dame |
3-2 |
82 |
12 |
16 |
Stony Brook |
2-0 |
73 |
17 |
17 |
James Madison |
4-1 |
46 |
NR |
18 |
Loyola Maryland |
1-2 |
38 |
16 |
19 |
Delaware |
4-1 |
34 |
19 |
20 |
Denver |
2-1 |
14 |
20 |
Dropped out: No. 18 Johns Hopkins.
Also receiving votes: Johns Hopkins, Albany, Massachusetts.