No. 14 Rutgers men’s lacrosse will begin postseason play on Saturday as the No. 6 seed playing at No. 3 seed Maryland in the Big Ten Quarterfinals. The games airs live on the Big Ten Network at 8 p.m. ET.
The Scarlet Knights are 8-5 overall after finishing league play with just a 1-4 record. The Terps are ranked No. 7 nationally with an 8-4 record and 3-2 league mark. RU has never beaten Maryland as members of the Big Ten and lone win was in 1980.
This is a critical game for RU as they are squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble. With an RPI ranking of No. 13, beating No. 7 Maryland would by its best win of the season. Rutgers down own five top-30 victories this season including No. 15 Utah, No. 16 Princeton, No. 19 Michigan, No. 26 UMass and No. 29 Loyola.
Rutgers leads the nation in fewest turnovers at just 12.15 per game. The Scarlet Knights also lead the Big Ten with 8.46 caused turnovers per contest.
Earlier this week, RU had three players earn all-conference honors. Shane Knobloch, Ethan Rall and Ross Scott each earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors. It was the third time Rall was selected in his career and second in a row for Knobloch and Scott. Jack Aimone won the teams Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.
Knobloch leads Rutgers with 17 assists and second on the team with 35 points. Rall is second in the Big Ten with 1.58 caused turnovers per game and just one away from tying the program’s all-time record. Scott leads RU with 25 goals and 38 points this season. The Scarlet Knights need all three players to have big performances on Saturday night in College Park.
The Scarlet Knights are 2-6 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament. Last season on Maryland’s home field, they defeated Ohio State to make the program’s second ever Big Ten Tournament title game before ultimately losing to Maryland. Hopefully, Rutgers can turn the tide against the Terps this time around.
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