5/9/2022 other sports Edit

Rutgers men's, women's lax earn NCAA Tourney bids for second straight year

Chris Nalwasky • TheKnightReport

Beat Writer

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The Rutgers men's and women's lacrosse teams both heard their names called on Sunday as both programs made the 2022 NCAA Tournament.

It is the second consecutive year the pair of teams earned bids.

The men's team is just one of five that made the tournament in back-to-back years. Rutgers was one of six schools that made both the men's and women's tournament this season, and is one of seven schools that both won a game in the tournament last spring.

The No. 3-ranked men was awarded the No. 6 seed and will host Harvard on Sunday at 5 p.m. at Yurcak Field. Rutgers graduation at SHI Stadum is on Saturday. It is the first time Rutgers will host an NCAA Tournament since 2003 against Georgetown at Yurcak, which is named after Ronald N. Yurcak, an All-American lacrosse player for the Scarlet Knights.

The No. 13-ranked women open on Friday against St. Joseph's (PA) at 2:30 p.m. at Stony Brook. The winner will face either Stony Brook or Drexel on Sunday.

Both teams made the final round of the Big Ten Tournament this past weekend.

"This is what the guys strive for throughout their career, to be able to participate in the NCAA Tournament," Rutgers men's lacrosse head coach Brian Brecht said. "This year what we accomplished, with a program record for wins, allowed us to be seeded and have a home game. Another step forward for our program, for our guys to be able to play in the NCAA Tournament for two straight seasons and now host a home game, I'm very proud of them and excited for this opportunity."

Men's bracket | Women's bracket

Competing in the NCAA Tournament for the second straight the season for the first time in program history, the women (15-4), who have three tournament berths all-time, defeated Drexel in the first round last season at Stony Brook. Rutgers tallied 15 wins on the season, the most in program history, including four Big Ten triumphs, five over ranked foes, and its first-ever victory against a top-5 opponent in the Big Ten Tournament semis (Northwestern).

Meghan Ball (first team), Taralyn Naslonski (first team), Cassidy Spilis (first team), Jessica Beneducci (second team), and Stephanie Kelly (second team) all eanred Big Ten honors. Spilis was the first unanimous first team pick in team history. Ball and Spilis were named to the Tewaarton Award watch list in the preseason.

Naslonski is now the team's all-time leader in points with 225 and goals with 181. Spilis set the teams single season record for goals with 65, while Naslonski (60) and Spilis made it the first time the Scarlet Knights had two players score more than 50 goals in one campaign. Kelly, who transferred over from St. Joseph's ironically, set the single season assist record with 39 and recorded her 300th point in her career.

Should the women win their first two games, a date with top-seeded North Carolina likely looms.

The men's team posted 13 victories, the most its ever had in a season, on its way to a 13-3 campaign. Rutgers recorded four ranked wins during the season, and its three losses were to top-seeded Maryland and fifth-seeded Princeton, who are No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the NCAA's RPI metric.

The tournament appearance will be Rutgers' 11th all-time. It also made it in 1972, 1974, 1975, 1984, 1986, 1990, 1991, 2003, 2004 and 2021. The Scarlet Knights defeated Lehigh in the first round a year ago, and nearly knocked off top-seeded North Carolina in a game that went to overtime.

Colin Kirst, Shane Knobloch, and Ethan Rall each made All-Big Ten First Team while Ronan Jacoby, Jaryd Jean-Felix, and Ross Scott all made the All-Big Ten Second Team. Bobby Russo was awarded the Big Ten Sportsmanship award as well.

Kirst, during the regular season, posted a career-best 10.56 goals-against-average average and had a .542 save percentage. He made 162 saves with 27 ground balls in the cage. Rall, a three-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honoree, had a career-high 41 ground balls and 25 caused turnovers. He led the league with 1.79 caused turnovers per game. Jean-Felix also had 12 caused turnovers, scooped up 16 ground balls, and won three Big Ten DPOW awards.

Jacoby tallied 30 goals with nine assists this season including 10 multi-goal games. Scott led Rutgers with 36 goals, 21 assists, and 57 points. He also collected 25 ground balls and caused four turnovers with nine multi-goal contests. Russo totaled 27 ground balls and caused eight turnovers while scoring twice with five assists.

"It's unbelievable," Kirst said. "It's a special place to play here, especially being at home. We're excited and extremely grateful for the opportunity for this coming weekend to face Harvard. Looking back from the beginning of my time here and now how far our team has come, it's been really cool to reflect on that journey. It's been such a joy and a true blessing to be able to be with this team day in and day out and play the game we love."