It's never a good sign when you lose to an in-state opponent. And both the men and women did just that, losing to Monmouth. What concerns me even more in the case of the men is that it was Monmouth's first win...ever. Monmouth is in its second year of playing men's lacrosse and, ironically, is coached by former Knight Brian Fisher (RU '01). It is the second time this season that Rutgers has lost to a second year program (Richmond).
Men
Against the Hawks, Christian Trasolini paced the Scarlet Knights with three goals, while Chad Toliver scored twice. Joe Nardella was 20-of-23 on faceoffs and had 10 ground balls.
"Certainly I'm disappointed with the outcome," head coach Brian Brecht said. "We're trying to find the right pieces and chemistry to allow us to have success. They took advantage of some of their offensive possessions and we didn't today. It's early in the season, there's a lot of lacrosse left, and we're going to have to get better collectively as a whole."
The Scarlet Knights scored the game's first two goals with tallies from Toliver and Jules Heningburg. A Scott Bieda goal pushed the margin, but Monmouth responded with five of the next six goals, and the Hawks took a 6-4 lead at halftime.
In the third quarter, two Trasolini tallies, sandwiched around a goal from Brian Goss, put RU back in front 7-6. The Hawks recaptured the lead at 8-7 before a Jeff George goal tied things at 8-8.
If there us an up side to this, it is that most of the names listed above are first or second year players for RU.
02/28/15 |
vs. Monmouth N.J. |
Piscataway, N.J. |
L, 10-9 |
03/03/15 |
vs. Army |
Piscataway, N.J. |
L, 9-7 |
UPDATE
Down 7-3 at the half, Rutgers came back with four second half goals but fell to the Black Knights of the Hudson, 9-7.
Through 3 quarters at a snowy #HPSS Army leads #RUMLax 8-5. pic.twitter.com/W1HUOPUiFL
— Rutgers Men's LAX (@RUmlax) March 3, 2015
Women
Over the last week the women dropped two contests, one at home and one on the road. Against Monmouth, Rutgers had a 10-4 lead at the half. But the Hawks outscored Rutgers 9-2 in the second half and two overtimes. Monmouth tied the game with seconds left in the second period and again went ahead in the second overtime with just 17 seconds on the clock.
Two Scarlet Knights posted career performances in the hard fought loss. Senior goalie Candice Dandridge stopped a career-high 11 shots and made a number of big saves, also resetting her previous career-high with four ground balls.
Junior attack Halley Barnes led RU offensively with a career-best five points and five goals. Barnes also recorded personal bests with six free position shots, three free position goals, and eight shots overall.
The Rutgers pulled within two of No. RV/19 Delaware early in the second half, but the Blue Hens warded off the comeback attempt, eventually hanging on to defeat the Scarlet Knights, 12-7, at Delaware Stadium. The Blue Hens (4-1) held Rutgers to a 2-for-8 clip on free position attempts, while RU also had three shots go off the post in the contest.
The Scarlet Knights (1-3) were led offensively by junior attack Kim Kolodny, who notched her first hat trick of the year. Senior goalie Candice Dandridge reset her career-high in saves for the second consecutive contest, stopping 13 Blue Hen shots.
Down 5-1 at the start of the second stanza, Rutgers rattled off back-to-back goals to open the period courtesy of Kristina Dunphey and Amanda Turturro making the score 5-3.
02/25/15 |
vs. Monmouth |
Piscataway, N.J. |
L, 13-12 (2OT) |
02/28/15 |
at Delaware |
Newark, Del. |
L, 12-7 |
03/04/15 |
vs. Penn |
Piscataway, N.J. |
5:00 p.m. ET |
03/07/15 |
at Connecticut |
Storrs, Conn. |
1:00 p.m. ET |
Around the Big Ten and Lacrosse
Men's Standings
Overall |
Conference |
|||
W-L |
% |
W-L |
% |
|
3-1 |
.750 |
0-0 |
.000 |
|
3-1 |
.750 |
0-0 |
.000 |
|
4-2 |
.667 |
0-0 |
.000 |
|
2-2 |
.500 |
0-0 |
.000 |
|
2-3 |
.400 |
0-0 |
.000 |
|
2-3 |
.400 |
0-0 |
.000 |
Standings current through Sunday, March 1
Women's Standings
Overall |
Conference |
|||
W-L |
% |
W-L |
% |
|
3-0 |
1.000 |
0-0 |
.000 |
|
5-1 |
.833 |
0-0 |
.000 |
|
3-1 |
.750 |
0-0 |
.000 |
|
3-2 |
.600 |
0-0 |
.000 |
|
1-2 |
.333 |
0-0 |
.000 |
|
1-3 |
.250 |
0-0 |
.000 |
Standings current through Sunday, March 1
Big Ten Weekly Awards
Men
Offensive Player of the Week
TJ Sanders, Penn State, Jr. - A - Orilla, Ontario.
- Scored four goals and added two assists en route to six points in the Nittany Lions' win over No. 11/16 Penn
- Scored goals in the first quarter, second quarter and third quarter, and assisted on the game-winning score
- Posted his 20thcareer multi-goal game
- Currently ranks fourth in the Big Ten with 2.50 goals and 3.50 points per game
Defensive Player of the Week
Matt Neufeldt, Maryland, Fr. - LSM - Naperville, Ill.
- Led Maryland to wins over No. 11/16 Penn and Drexel
- Gathered a combined eight ground balls and caused five turnovers
- Grabbed three ground balls against Penn, and five versus Drexel
Specialist of the Week
Christopher May, Ohio State, Sr. - M (FO) - McLean, Va.
- Secured 32-of-39 faceoffs for a weekly faceoff percentage of .821 in the Buckeyes' split at Bellarmine and against nationally ranked Marquette
- Gathered a combined 26 groundballs
- Won 14-of-18 faceoffs and collected 11 groundballs in the 9-8 win over Bellarmine
- Claimed 18-of-21 faceoffs and gathered 15 groundballs against the Golden Eagles
Freshman of the Week
Patrick Fraser, Johns Hopkins, A - Walpole, Mass.
- Scored four goals on five shots against nationally ranked Princeton
- Recorded all four goals on extra-man situations
- Became Johns Hopkins' third freshman midfielder in the last 10 years to score four goals in a single game
Women
Offensive Player of the Week
Maggie McCormick, Penn State, Sr. - A - Eldersburg, Md.
- Scored four goals and added eight assists in the Nittany Lions' split at Duquesne and versus nationally ranked Virginia
- Scored four goals and collected three assists in the 16-0 win over Duquesne, as Penn State recorded its first shutout in 26 years
- Recorded five assists versus Virginia
- Currently ranks second in the Big Ten with 2.75 assists per game
Defensive Player of the Week
Alex Fitzpatrick, Maryland, Sr. - G - Yorktown, N.Y.
- Led the Terrapins to a 14-6 win over Hofstra
- Collected a season-high seven saves and allowed just four goals in more than 53 minutes of action
- In three starts, holds a 7.53 goals-against-average and a .438 save percentage
Freshman of the Week
Corinne Wessels, Northwestern, A - Manassas, Va.
- In her collegiate debut, scored two goals on two shots and added a pair of assists en route to four points at No. 2 North Carolina
Men's Rankings USILA Coaches
RANK |
SCHOOL |
RECORD |
POINTS |
PREVIOUS |
1 |
Syracuse (15) |
4-0 |
464 |
3 |
2 |
North Carolina (7) |
5-0 |
453 |
4 |
3 |
Notre Dame (2) |
3-0 |
448 |
2 |
4 |
Denver |
3-1 |
407 |
1 |
5 |
Duke |
5-1 |
385 |
6 |
6 |
Yale |
3-0 |
345 |
8 |
T7 |
Cornell |
3-1 |
321 |
9 |
T7 |
Virginia |
3-1 |
321 |
5 |
9 |
Maryland |
3-1 |
276 |
10 |
10 |
Princeton |
3-0 |
245 |
18 |
17 |
Johns Hopkins |
2-3 |
92 |
12 |
Also receiving votes: Brown, Penn State, Holy Cross, Ohio State, Lehigh, Marist, Michigan, Stony Brook.
Women's Inside Lacrosse Rankings
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 |
12 |
Penn State |
3-1 |
141 |
10 |
Dropped out: No. 18 Johns Hopkins.
Also receiving votes: Johns Hopkins, Albany, Massachusetts.