Rutgers Men’s Lacrosse Has Three Players Named All-Americans

While the Rutgers men’s lacrosse season ended up in disappointment, narrowly missing the NCAA Tournament for a third consecutive year, the individual accolades continue to pile up. On Friday, the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) named their annual All-American teams and three Rutgers players were selected.

For the first time since 2003, three Scarlet Knights were named All-Americans. The last time Rutgers had two players selected as high as Second Team All-American was 1963, when attackman John Valestra made First Team and midfielder James Anderson was named to the Second Team.

Michael Rexrode

The Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year was named an All-American for the second consecutive season. He was named a Third Team selection last year. Rexrode had one of the more accomplished careers in program history, which we covered in detail here. He also received the Big Ten Medal of Honor, awarded to one senior athlete at each conference institution, earlier this month. Rexrode every game he played in his Rutgers career (55), produced 111 ground balls and forced 55 turnovers.

Jules Heningburg

Heningburg was also a First Team All-Big Ten selection and led the conference in assists (35) and total points (72) this past season. He also led Rutgers with 37 goals scored. The Tewaarton Award semifinalist finished his Rutgers career second all-time with 207 points, seventh with 117 goals, and eighth with 90 assists. Last season, Heningburg was named an All-American Honorable Mention selection.

Christian Mazzone

Mazzone was a Second Team All-Big Ten Selection this season and earns his first All-American selection as an Honorable Mention pick. He scored 29 goals, added 9 assists, scooped up 40 ground balls and forced 8 turnovers. Mazzone also scored in every game this season.

For the full list of All-American selections this season, click here. For a full list of All-American selections in Rutgers history, click here.

While it’s a major accomplishment for Rutgers to have three All-American selections in the same season, it also highlights the bittersweet end to the season by missing the NCAA Tournament. Replacing all three players, who were also team captains this past season, will be a major undertaking next season. Even so, it shows recruits that they can excel at Rutgers and earn accolades at the highest level of the college game. Congrats to Rexrode, Heningburg, and Mazzone, all of whom made their Major League Lacrosse debuts last week. They will go down as some of the best players in program history.