Thirty wins over the last three years have amounted to the most regular season success in Rutgers lacrosse history, but the team has still failed to produce a single tournament bid. Will 2019 be the year that the Scarlet Knights finally break through?

If you ask the players, the answer to that question is a resounding yes, and they do have a reason for this optimistic outlook as they begin the 2019 campaign. The return of Big Ten rookie sensation Adam Charalambides after a two-year absence due to injuries will help bolster the lineup. Along with the addition of transfers Brennan Kamish in the midfield, Zach Masessa at long stick middie and Connor Harryman at the face-off X should only help the Scarlet Knights to complete that goal.

Don't forget that coach Brian Brecht just recently had one of the best recruiting classes yet since he took the job on the banks.

The final piece that put Rutgers over the top this season might be the additions of Eric Seremet (offensive coordinator) and Dan Cocchi (defensive coordinator) to the coaching staff. These two guys bring a wealth of experience and success to the staff. Seremet was formerly the head coach of Air Force for nine years, while Cocchi was an assistant on the Towson staff for the past seven years.

The biggest question that Rutgers faces is will all of this be enough to counter the losses of 2018 leading scorer Jules Heningburg, 2018 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Michael Rexrode, and an even tougher schedule that currently contains nine programs ranked in the top 20?

Let’s take a closer look at this year's edition for Rutgers men's lax.

KEY LOSSES ON OFFENSE: (Jules Heningburg (A) 2x All American, 2x All-Big Ten, Christian Mazzone M, Connor Vercruysse A)

Heningburg will be a very difficult person to replace on the attack as he graduated last year as the No. 2 scorer in the history of the program. Mazzone was arguably the best all-around player on the team last year playing solid defense while also chipping in 38 points on offense.

HOW TO ATTACK?

The loss of Heningburg should be offset by the return of Charalambides (2016 Big Ten Rookie of the year) and the continued growth of Tommy Coyne. After a full year in the weight room, Coyne has developed physically and his added strength has shown in the early spring. It is expected that junior Kieran Mullins will replace Heningburg as the trigger man for Seremet’s motion offense. Mullins, Coyne, and Charalambides could be a lethal trio on par with the 2016 group of Scott Bieda, Heningberg and Charalambides. Expect Junior Mark Schachte to see significant time on the offensive end as well. The talented junior's flexibility will allow him to also get runs at midfield while talented freshmen Brad Thompson and Eric Civetti will give the attack great depth and capable options should the need arise.

THE MIDFIELD:

The midfield depth might be Rutgers' greatest advantage and the clearest sign of Brecht’s recruiting success. Rutgers is eight deep at the midfield and brings back two out of three middies off of the top line. That number includes senior captain Casey Rose and lightning fast sophomore Ryan Gallagher. Rutgers also now adds the highest ranked player in the dynamic freshman class in David Sprock. However, the second line is where Rutgers depth really shows as they have four more capable players vying for playing time. Juniors Owen Meade and Michael Sanguinetti are big, tough downhill dodgers that saw spot playing time last year.

The Scarlet Knights also added two more guys in freshman Joe Peterson, who was a 2018 early enrollee that spent last season redshirting along with sophomore transfer Brennan Kamish. He is pretty well known in his former conference as he was named second team All-MAAC, while playing for the Detroit Mercy last year. With the advent of the 80-second shot clock, a dangerous second midfield will be a necessity. Finishing up that group is Mark Schachte, who could also earn some playing time. Add them all together and you have the deepest group of midfielders that Brecht has ever had at Rutgers..

All of this talent will be in the capable hands of Seremet who has come to Rutgers after a 15-year stint at the Air Force Academy, the last nine of which were as head coach. Seremet won national Coach of the Year in 2014 and guided the Falcons to the NCAA’s three times in his last four years while at the helm.

FACEOFF X:

The lacrosse program received some good news at the faceoff x spot when Alex Schoen was awarded another year of eligibility. Schoen will be paired with another redshirt senior in transfer Connor Harryman and the two of them will man the faceoffs. However, there are a couple of dark horses and don't be surprised to see both sophomore Eddie Perlstein and freshman Michael Ott also taking their turns at the faceoff dot. This type of depth will allow Rutgers to keep their faceoff specialists fresh as the season wears on and should help at tournament season hits.

At times, faceoffs were a weak point for Rutgers.

KEY LOSSES ON DEFENSE:

-- Michael Rexrode (D) 2x All American 2x 1st team All-Big Ten, 2018 Defensive Player of the Year, Alex Bronzo (D), Austin Divitcos( SSDM), Christian Scarpello (SSDM), and Chad Tolliver(SSDM).

HOW TO DEFEND?

This area of the field was particularly hit hard by graduation as the Scarlet Knights will have to replace their top two defensemen from last year and three of the four top short-stick defensive midfielders. Rexrode was a four-year starter and a two-time first-team All-Big Ten and two-time All American. Alex Bronzo was not flashy, but he was the steadying force on the defense and that calming presence on the field will be missed. The rope unit (nickname for the defensive midfield unit) will be looking to replace three of the four short sticks. All three were excellent defenders and Scarpello and Tolliver had the added ability to stay and play offense, making this group incredibly potent as the igniter of the offense.

ROPE UNIT:

This group brings back senior playmaker Kyle Pless at long stick middie (LSM). His skill set has earned him recognition already as a 2019 Big Ten player to watch. He will likely be paired with sophomore transfer Zach Masessa, who spent last season playing at Providence. Freshman Ethan Rall and Bobby Russo will compete for playing time at the LSM spot as well. Both Rall and Russo were high school All-Americans. Mark Christiano will spearhead a revamped short-stick defensive midfield unit. This unit is the driving force behind Rutgers' vaunted transition game. There are several people who will have the opportunity to join him as this is another area of the field where Rutgers seems to have tremendous depth. First among this group will likely be sophomore Zack Franckowiak, who is returning from his two-year Mormon mission. He played all 16 games in his freshman season in 2016. Senior Brian Eletti, junior Rob Marron and a pair of freshmen, Cole Daninger and Matt Dancsecs, will also all compete for time on this incredibly important group.

DEFENSE:

Redshirt sophomore Garrett Bullett will return to anchor the defense for the Scarlet Knights and will be joined by senior Garrett Michaeli. Michaeli split time between close and LSM last year. The third spot has been an ongoing battle between freshman Jack Stahanczyk, who was also a high school All-American in Ohio and junior Jack Thompson. This is the one area where it feels like Rutgers is a little unsettled and you may even see sophomore Jaryd Jean-Felix, freshmen Bobby Russo and Jonathan Taub thrown in the mix sooner rather than later. Russo who is an alumnus of Bridgewater Raritan High School, was coached by Rutgers alum and Hall of Fame coach, Chuck Apel. Taub was named Defensive Player of the Year in New Jersey last year.

GOALIES:

Rutgers welcomes back senior Max Edelmann who was just recently named to the Preseason All-Big Ten team. Edelmann's record 146 saves while playing every minute of all 16 games speaks for itself. He is the clear starter and will have the inside track on All-Big Ten honors for this upcoming season. He is backed up sophomore Cole Touhy, senior Max Ayre, JUCO transfer Billy Kelly and newcomer Ben Pounds.

QUICK OVERVIEW:

It is apparent that the strength of the team is on the offensive end and in the goal and for Rutgers to finally break through and make the tournament they will have to take full advantage of these strengths while their close defense rounds into shape. This is where the addition of Cocchi from Towson will pay the biggest dividends. The highly regarded defensive guru was on the staff at Towson from 2011-18. In that time, he helped Towson reach the NCAA tournament four times including a berth in the semifinals in 2017.

The introduction of the shot clock for 2019 will fit perfectly with Rutgers' fast-paced, high-octane style of play. Add to that the return of a healthy Charalambides and a fast-improving Coyne and you could see a very dangerous attack line. Midfield depth, once a weakness, now is a strength of the team.

Ultimately, this team's success or failure will be all about their play on the field. Rutgers will need to eliminate the bad losses (Army and Princeton in 2018 and Delaware in 2017). Rutgers must also become road warriors as it is currently 1-9 in 10 regular season Big Ten road games.

If the Scarlet Knights want to play in the postseason they will need to win the close games that they have been losing in recent years (one goal losses to Princeton, Maryland, and Johns Hopkins last year). Overall, this team appears to be better than last year's version, but it may not look that way early in the season. The schedule has very few breathers in it as the Scarlet Knights end the season by playing eight of their last nine games against ranked teams

BOLD PREDICTION:

With the Big Ten tournament being played at Rutgers this year, the Scarlet Knights can and will break through. This Scarlet Knights team will surprise some people and I believe they will earn wins versus Ohio State (away) and Maryland (home) to make the Big Ten Tournament. After that, Rutgers will have a good shot to use their home field advantage to earn the school's first Big Ten Tournament Championship ever while securing the first NCAA bid for the Knights since 2004.