Rutgers Lacrosse: Men snap losing streak, women still on the schneid

Offense took center stage for both the men and women. And RU picks up its first Big Ten honors in LAXr

By rvc73@scarknight Mar 16, 2015, 9:20pm EDT

It is still an up-and-down season for Lacrosse On the Banks. This past week, the men had a great outing - and a great offensive showing - in topping Delaware. It ended a three game losing streak. The women, despite having their best offensive showing of the season, dropped their seventh straight game, losing to No. 15/17 James Madison.

In addition, Joe Nardella became the first Rutgers player to earn conference honors in lacrosse (see below).

Men

Rutgers used a huge offensive effort to get a road victory over Delaware, as the Scarlet Knights (3-5) outscored the Blue Hens (3-5) by a 17-12 margin on Saturday afternoon. Captain Scott Bieda scored a career-high five goals, while Christian Trasolini scored four times in the victory.

"I'm proud of the team and how they went about this week," head coach Brian Brecht said. "They were very focused in the attention to details and the business-like approach with our travel and preparation. This team keeps getting better every week and we keep learning more about our personnel as a staff, how we can play, and what works best to have success."

The Blue Hens went ahead 4-3 at 6:58 of the first quarter. But Rutgers answered with a flurry of goals, scoring three times in 55 seconds. Connor Murphy, Nardella, and Bieda all tallied within a minute to push the Scarlet Knights in front 6-4.

Bieda potted his second goal of the day early in the second to push RU back in front, and freshman Jules Heningburg converted on an extra-man opportunity to give the Knights a two-goal lead at 8-6. Trasolini got into the act next, as his goal gave Rutgers a three-goal cushion.

The Scarlet Knights controlled the third quarter, outscoring the Blue Hens 5-2 in the frame. Bieda scored twice to open the quarter, and Jeff George scored his first goal of the day, followed by two more from Trasolini to give Rutgers a 15-10 lead after three quarters.

Early in the fourth, Bieda found the back of the cage for the fifth time on the day. Freshman Chad Toliver added a goal late, and Rutgers finished off the 17-12 victory.

POSTGAME NOTES

Scott Bieda's five goals were a career-high, surpassing his previous career high of three.
Christian Trasolini had four goals (tying his previous career-high) for the third time this season, and fifth in his career.
The 17 goals represented the most goals scored for Rutgers this season.
Jeff George had a career-high four assists and five points.
Joe Nardella had his first career multi-goal game and had a career-best five points.
Freshman Christian Scarpello scored his first career goal.
Connor Murphy (one goal, one assist) had his first multi-point game of the season.
Kris Alleyne made 10 saves to earn his second win of the season. Rutgers goalkeepers have recorded double-digit saves in every victory this season.

3/14/15	at University of Delaware	Newark, Del.	W, 17-12
3/17/15	vs. Princeton	Highpoint Solutions Stadium	6:00 p.m. ET
3/20/15	vs. NJIT	Highpoint Solutions Stadium	6:00 p.m. ET

Women's 14 goals most this season

An 11-minute span of six unanswered goals drew the Rutgers women's lacrosse team within three scores of its first ranked win of the season. On the ropes, No. 15/17 James Madison found the cage four times in the final six minutes to win by a 19-15 final, despite a resurgent second half from the Scarlet Knights.

Redshirt senior Lauren Sbrilli tallied three of her five goals during RU's (1-7) surge that cut the JMU (7-1) lead to 15-13 with 7:03 remaining in the contest. Sophomore Kristina Dunphey who posted a hat trick to go with two assists, scored twice during the run.

For the second-straight game, goalkeeper Candice Dandridge made 10 saves in cage.

Game Notes

A game after joining RU's 100-point club, Sbrilli came closer to joining the school's 100-goal club. With her team-leading five goals against the Dukes, she now has 92 for her career.
Kolodny has scored in all eight games and leads RU with 17 goals this season. She has posted at least two goals in seven of eight contests.
Puckhaber recorded four points and had a career day with two goals and two assists. She made the first start of her career against the Dukes.
Dandridge posted another 10-save outing against JMU, and has now reached the double-digit saves mark five times. She entered the contest first in the Big Ten in saves per game.
Dunphey had a hat trick to go with two assists. The three goals tied a career-high, while her five points set a new career benchmark.
Sophomore Macy Scott set new career-highs in goals (two) and draw controls (two).

3/11/15	vs. Temple	Highpoint Solutions Stadium	L, 11-10
3/14/15	at No. 15/17 James Madison	Harrisonburg, Va.	L, 19-14
3/18/15	vs. Hofstra	Highpoint Solutions Stadium	5:00 p.m. ET

National Rankings

Men - Inside Lacrosse

RANK	SCHOOL	RECORD	POINTS	PREVIOUS
1	Syracuse (20)	6-0	475	1
2	North Carolina (4)	8-0	459	2
3	Notre Dame	4-1	426	4
4	Duke	7-1	410	5
5	Maryland	5-1	365	8
6	Denver	4-2	337	3
7	Cornell	4-2	325	9
8	Virginia	5-2	303	7
T9	Marquette	7-0	279	10
T9	Yale	5-1	279	6
11	Albany	3-1	240	11
12	Brown	5-0	225	18
13	Princeton	4-1	215	12
14	Loyola	4-3	149	17
15	Ohio State	6-2	124	NR
16	Harvard	4-2	103	13
17	Villanova	5-2	85	15
18	Towson	5-2	83	19
19	Army	5-3	70	14
20	Johns Hopkins	3-4	62	16

Women - Inside Lacrosse

1	Maryland (14)	7-0	280	1
2	Duke	9-0	260	3
3	North Carolina	8-1	254	2
4	Boston College	8-0	241	4
5	Syracuse	7-2	223	5
6	Northwestern	4-2	207	7
7	Florida	6-3	195	6
8	Stanford	4-0	165	10
9	Ohio State	7-1	152	11
10	Virginia	4-4	138	9
11	Penn	6-0	127	14
12	Louisville	5-2	124	13
13	Princeton	4-1	118	8
14	Stony Brook	5-0	107	15
15	James Madison	7-1	104	16
16	Penn State	5-2	96	12
17	Loyola	3-4	50	20
18	Albany	5-1	38	19
19	Notre Dame	4-4	13	18
20	Massachusetts	7-0	13	NR

Big Ten Standings

MEN	Overall		Conference
	W-L	%	W-L	%
Maryland	5-1	.833	0-0	.000
Ohio State	6-2	.750	0-0	.000
Michigan	4-3	.571	0-0	.000
Johns Hopkins	3-4	.429	0-0	.000
Penn State	3-4	.429	0-0	.000
Rutgers	3-5	.375	0-0	.000

Standings current through Saturday, March 14

WOMEN	Overall		Conference
	W-L	%	W-L	%
Maryland	7-0	1.000	0-0	.000
Ohio State	7-1	.875	0-0	.000
Northwestern	4-2	.667	0-0	.000
Penn State	4-2	.667	0-0	.000
Michigan	4-3	.571	0-0	.000
Rutgers	1-7	.125	0-0	.000

Standings current through Saturday, March 14

Big Ten Players of the Week

MEN

Offensive Player of the Week

Tyler Pfister, Ohio State, A - So. - Columbus, Ohio

Scored three goals and added an assist en route to four points in the Buckeyes' 13-11 win over #3/3 Denver

Defensive Player of the Week

Casey Ikeda, Maryland, D - Sr. - Berwyn, Pa.

Led a Terrapin defense that held nationally ranked Villanova to just two goals in an 11-2 road victory

Specialist of the Week

Joe Nardella, Rutgers, M - Sr. - Cazenovia, N.Y.

Won 18 faceoffs, gathered 13 ground balls and totaled five points in the Scarlet Knights' road win at Delaware
Scored his first two goals of the season and added three assists
Earns his first career Big Ten Specialist of the Week honor

Freshman of the Week

Shack Stanwick, Johns Hopkins, A - Fr. - Baltimore, Md.

Scored two goals on four shots and added a pair of assists at #1/1 Syracuse

WOMEN