Previewing Rutgers’ 2020 men’s college lacrosse schedule

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights are the 63rd team in our 2020 men’s college lacrosse schedule preview series and the sixth and final team from the Big Ten. Rutgers finished 7-8 overall in 2019 and 2-3 in Big Ten play. The Scarlet Knights fell to Penn State in the Big Ten semifinals.

Here’s their entire 2020 schedule:

Who’s In?

• Quinnipiac Bobcats (2/1)
• Stony Brook Seawolves (2/29)

Who’s Out?

• Fairfield Stags (8-4 W)
• Lehigh Mountain Hawks (13-10 L)

Circle These Dates

• 2/15 at Army West Point: Since 2012, this game has been decided by either one or two goals, including last year’s one goal loss to the Black Knights. Down 7-3 in the second quarter, Rutgers was able to put together a pair of three-goal runs that saw them tie the game up at nine in the fourth quarter. But they weren’t able to find a way to take the lead as Brendan Nichtern scored the eventual game-winner with 3:54 left. Fortunately for the Scarlet Knights, they won’t have to deal with Johnny Surdick or AJ Barretto defensively. But Rutgers won’t have the services of Max Edelmann in goal either due to graduation.
• 3/7 at Princeton: The longest-played series in program history goes to Princeton in 2020 for the Tots Meistrell Cup. After the Tigers took the 2018 meeting in overtime, Rutgers got revenge with a one-goal win of their own in Piscataway. Despite scoring six goals in the second quarter and leading 9-3 at the hal, the Scarlet Knights gave up five straight goals to the Tigers to make things interesting late. But Edelmann played the role of hero with an incredible stop on Charlie Durbin with seven seconds to go to preserve the win.
• 3/14 vs. Syracuse: The former Big East rivals have split the first two meetings since restarting the series in 2018, with the home team winning both games. Rutgers looked like they were going to take last year’s meeting inside the Carrier Dome with a three-goal lead early in the final quarter, but the Orange went off for eight of the final nine goals in the game en route to an 18-14 win. Adam Charalambides finished with six goals and two assists, while Kieran Mullins scored once and assisted on six other scores with Edelmann stopping 19 shots.
• 3/28 vs. Ohio State: Rutgers surprised many in the lacrosse community with a convincing 14-6 road win over previously undefeated Ohio State to open up Big Ten play. After a Colby Smith goal for the Buckeyes, the Scarlet Knights went on a 6-0 run to take a commanding five-goal lead. Ohio State was able to keep it close until Rutgers ended the game with a 4-0 run, which would eventually help them secure a spot in the Big Ten Tournament. Mullins finished with four goals and four assists in the win while Edelmann had another big performance in the cage with 17 stops.
• 4/4 vs. Johns Hopkins: It felt like Hopkins would dominate in last year’s meeting early as they jumped out to a 6-0 lead midway through the second quarter. But the Scarlet Knights kept fighting back to trim the Blue Jay lead to two on multiple occasions. Rutgers was unable to score a couple more goals late and lost by two to Hopkins. They’re still looking for their first win since 2016 when they defeated the Jays twice, at home in the regular season and at Homewood Field in the Big Ten Tournament.