No. 6/7 Men’s Lacrosse hosts No. 13/14 Princeton in 100th all-time meeting

PISCATAWAY, NJ Well. 6/7 Rutgers men’s lacrosse hosts in-state rival #13/14 Princeton on Saturday, March 11 at 1 p.m. at SHI Stadium to battle for the Tots Meistrell Cup. This matchup will be the 100th lifetime meeting between the Scarlet Knights and Tigers in a series that began in 1922 and has been played every year except for a two-year hiatus during World War II and only the conference schedule in 2021 due to the COVID virus. -19 pandemic.

Dom Savino and Rick Mercurio play in B1G+. Army Appreciation Day will be celebrated on Saturday at the SHI Stadium. The giveaway for the Acamouflage Rutgers lacrosse cap will be held while supplies last.

ABOUT SCARLET KNIGHTS

• Rutgers is riding a three-game winning streak heading into Saturday’s game. The Scarlet Knights have earned wins over No. 5 Loyola, St. John’s and Utah in the first three of a four-game homestand.
• RU beat Utah last weekend 18-14. Brian Cameron and Dante Kulas led the way scoring four goals each. The pair are currently second (17) and third (16) on the team in goals scored this spring.
• Kulas has taken effective shots this spring. The sophomore is shooting .516 percent, good for second in the Big Ten and 13th in the nation.
• Ross Scott added six points (three goals, three assists) to his team-leading 26 points (19 goals, seven assists) in the win. The senior has three performances of at least six points in the last four contests. He is first in the Big Ten and 21st in the nation with 3.17 goals per game.
• Keeper Kyle Mullin has made six starts in net for RU and recorded 66 saves. Her .550 save percentage ranks second in the conference and 15th nationally. The senior transfer has allowed just 9.49 goals per game, which leads the Big Ten and ranks 13th in the nation. Her 11.00 saves per game are third in the conference.
• RU has excelled in the third quarter this spring, outscoring opponents 28-8 over six games. Over the last three contests, RU has outscored its opponents 18-1 in the third quarter.
• The Scarlet Knights have been strong on both sides of the ball. The team’s score of 6.17 leads the conference and ranks seventh nationally. RU ranks first in the Big Ten in scoring defense (9.17) and second in scoring offense (15.33).
• Rutgers has found success in the X this spring. The team’s .584 winning percentage is third in the Big Ten. Jonathan Dugenio is 57-93 (0.613) and Joe Neuman is 37-64 (.578). The duo ranks third and fourth in the conference.
• RU leads the conference and ranks fourth in the nation with just 12.67 turnovers per game.

POWER CLOCK

• Ethan Rall is second all-time in turnovers with 71 in his career. The senior is 13 years away from tying the program record held by Nick Contino (2011-14), who had 84 as a Scarlet Knight.
• Brian Cameron is 11 goals away from reaching 100 goals in his career. He scored 38 at UNC and 51 at Rutgers.
• Ross Scott is 17 goals away from reaching 100 goals in his career.

OPPOSITE

Princeton enters Saturday with a 2-2 record in its first four games and wins over Monmouth and Manhattan. The Tigers fell to Maryland and Georgetown in their last two contests. This weekend will be PU’s first time away from Sherred Field, as the Tigers have hosted all four of their contests this spring. Princeton is coming off a 2022 campaign in which it went 11-5 and reached the NCAA Final Four. The Tigers fell to eventual national champion Maryland 13-8 in the national semifinals.

The Tigers offense is led by forward Coulter Mackesy. The sophomore has a team-leading 18 points (15 goals, three assists). A season ago, he scored the fourth highest among Princeton freshmen (42). Also on offense for Princeton are Alexandra Vardaro, who has 13 points (nine goals, four assists) and Braedon Saris, who has 10 points (four goals, six assists).

Goalkeeper Griffen Rakower has started all four matches at PU. The senior made 36 saves and had a save percentage of 0.667. He scores 9.00 goals per game. The Tigers have changed goaltenders at halftime in each of their first four games, putting Michael Gianforcaro in net for the final 24 minutes of each contest. He has collected 21 saves and has a save percentage of .477.

Prior to the season, Princeton had two players named to the Tewaaraton Award watch list, defender Pace Billings and midfielder Sam English. Center fielder Jake Steven was named a preseason second team All American and SSDM Beau Pederson was named a preseason first team All American.

ABOUT THE SERIES

Saturday will mark the 100th lifetime meeting between the two programs, the seventh-longest contested streak in the NCAA since it dates back to 1922. The Scarlet Knights have faced the Tigers every season since 1922, except for the World War II years of 1944 and 1945. II and the 2021 season, when the teams only faced their conference opponents. The winner of the competition will receive year-long rights to the Meistrell Cup, named in honor of US Lacrosse Hall of Famer Harland (Tots) Meistrell, who restarted the lacrosse programs at both schools in the early 1920s. Princeton has the edge in the series, having won 65 of their teams’ 99 games. The Scarlet Knights are 31-65-3 all-time against their in-state rivals. Rutgers has beaten PU at home the last two times the contest was held in Piscataway.