ChrisNalwasky
PREVIEW
Keep it locked here on Thursday evening as well.
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B1G Men's Lax Tourney 1st Rd: No. 11 Rutgers vs. No. 2 Maryland
Rutgers Athletics
Chris Nalwasky • TheKnightReport.net
@ChrisWasky
Fourth-seeded Rutgers men's lacrosse, No. 11 in the Inside Lacrosse Top 20, will face top-seeded and No. 2 Maryland in the first round of the 2018 Big Ten Tournament on Thursday at 5:00 p.m.
This year's four-team tournament will be held in Ann Arbor, MI. and the Scarlet Knights are attending the party for the first time since 2016.
Rutgers (9-5, 2-3) and Maryland (11-2, 4-1) will meet for the second time this season as the Terrapins edged the Scarlet Knights on April 15, 11-10, in College Park, Md. The Terps are the two-time defending conference and reigning national champions. Maryland beat Rutgers in the conference tournament final in the 2016 season.
Here are a couple things to look out for on Thursday whether you are are there live or watching on BTN.
1) To put it nicely, faceoffs haven't been kind for Rutgers lately, and they're a big reason why it lost to Ohio State this past Saturday.Rutgers was lucky enough that Michigan upset Penn State earlier in the day which allowed the Scarlet Knights to make the Big Ten Tournament.Anyway, in Rutgers' win over Penn State two weeks ago, the Nittany Lions were 10-for-10 on faceoffs in the second half. Though Rutgers ended up winning that game, Penn State had tons of possessions after the break and rallied. Furthermore, Rutgers started the game 0-for-13 on faceoffs against the Buckeyes in the regular season finale, including 0-9 in the first half. Ohio State finished 18-for-21. Joe Francisco and Alex Schoen will need to sure up that aspect if Rutgers wants a chance at advancing.
2) This season, the Scarlet Knights have been hot and cold. They performed well at home (7-1) but on the road (2-4) was a different story. Rutgers has won 21 of it's last 23 home games, but since joining the Big Ten, it is 1-9 in away conference games and 11-15 overall. In 2018, Rutgers has lost on the road to Army, Princeton, Maryland, and Ohio State and beat Brown and Lehigh by a combined three goals. Rutgers blew leads late to Army, Princeton, and Maryland. While the Big Ten Tournament is held at a neutral site, it's not in a Piscataway, so it's still a road game. There's not really anything Rutgers can do to just be magically better in away contests, but as the old saying goes, good teams win at a home, and a great teams win on the road.
3) Rutgers honored 14 seniors earlier this month, and those seniors, particularly Jules Heningburg, Christian Mazzone, Max Edelmann, will have to come up big. Heningburg leads the team in points with 69 (36 goals and 33 assists), Mazzone is third on the team in goals with 28, and Edelmann is a solid goalie that is the last line of Rutgers' defense that is tied for 19th in country in scoring defense giving up just 9.36 goals per game. Michael Rexrode, who was also recently drafted in the 2018 Major League Lacrosse Draft along with Heningburg and Mazzone, needs to have a performance like he had against Penn State. Rexrode held its leading scorer to zero points in the game.
This senior class has combined for 35 wins. The program record is 36 done by the 1989 senior class.
4) Besides winning faceoffs, getting ground balls, scoring, and playing defense, the Scarlet Knights must stay on the field. Maryland leads the conference by far in man-up goals (21) and man-up percentage (60 percent). On the other side, Rutgers is worst in penalties per game (3.7 and 52 total) and total penalty minutes (40). The Scarlet Knights must play smart and get into foul trouble. Getting into foul trouble means your defense is running around and doing extra work. Combine then with not winning faceoffs and your defense working overtime because of that as well, it's a recipe for disaster.
5) Thursday is put up or shut up time. The Scarlet Knights are on the fringe of missing out on the NCAA Tournament once against. You could argue they were snubbed the last two seasons (for good reasons), but this year, not so much, despite being highly ranked. Rutgers is fighting for one of the last at-large bids. The loss to Ohio State didn't held as it is backing its way into the conference tournament. But, a win over Maryland will help the Scarlet Knights' chances. And, if they are able to somehow catch fire these next two games and win the conference crown, they'll be in.
PREVIEW
Keep it locked here on Thursday evening as well.
________________________________
B1G Men's Lax Tourney 1st Rd: No. 11 Rutgers vs. No. 2 Maryland
Rutgers Athletics
Chris Nalwasky • TheKnightReport.net
@ChrisWasky
Fourth-seeded Rutgers men's lacrosse, No. 11 in the Inside Lacrosse Top 20, will face top-seeded and No. 2 Maryland in the first round of the 2018 Big Ten Tournament on Thursday at 5:00 p.m.
This year's four-team tournament will be held in Ann Arbor, MI. and the Scarlet Knights are attending the party for the first time since 2016.
Rutgers (9-5, 2-3) and Maryland (11-2, 4-1) will meet for the second time this season as the Terrapins edged the Scarlet Knights on April 15, 11-10, in College Park, Md. The Terps are the two-time defending conference and reigning national champions. Maryland beat Rutgers in the conference tournament final in the 2016 season.
Here are a couple things to look out for on Thursday whether you are are there live or watching on BTN.
1) To put it nicely, faceoffs haven't been kind for Rutgers lately, and they're a big reason why it lost to Ohio State this past Saturday.Rutgers was lucky enough that Michigan upset Penn State earlier in the day which allowed the Scarlet Knights to make the Big Ten Tournament.Anyway, in Rutgers' win over Penn State two weeks ago, the Nittany Lions were 10-for-10 on faceoffs in the second half. Though Rutgers ended up winning that game, Penn State had tons of possessions after the break and rallied. Furthermore, Rutgers started the game 0-for-13 on faceoffs against the Buckeyes in the regular season finale, including 0-9 in the first half. Ohio State finished 18-for-21. Joe Francisco and Alex Schoen will need to sure up that aspect if Rutgers wants a chance at advancing.
2) This season, the Scarlet Knights have been hot and cold. They performed well at home (7-1) but on the road (2-4) was a different story. Rutgers has won 21 of it's last 23 home games, but since joining the Big Ten, it is 1-9 in away conference games and 11-15 overall. In 2018, Rutgers has lost on the road to Army, Princeton, Maryland, and Ohio State and beat Brown and Lehigh by a combined three goals. Rutgers blew leads late to Army, Princeton, and Maryland. While the Big Ten Tournament is held at a neutral site, it's not in a Piscataway, so it's still a road game. There's not really anything Rutgers can do to just be magically better in away contests, but as the old saying goes, good teams win at a home, and a great teams win on the road.
3) Rutgers honored 14 seniors earlier this month, and those seniors, particularly Jules Heningburg, Christian Mazzone, Max Edelmann, will have to come up big. Heningburg leads the team in points with 69 (36 goals and 33 assists), Mazzone is third on the team in goals with 28, and Edelmann is a solid goalie that is the last line of Rutgers' defense that is tied for 19th in country in scoring defense giving up just 9.36 goals per game. Michael Rexrode, who was also recently drafted in the 2018 Major League Lacrosse Draft along with Heningburg and Mazzone, needs to have a performance like he had against Penn State. Rexrode held its leading scorer to zero points in the game.
This senior class has combined for 35 wins. The program record is 36 done by the 1989 senior class.
4) Besides winning faceoffs, getting ground balls, scoring, and playing defense, the Scarlet Knights must stay on the field. Maryland leads the conference by far in man-up goals (21) and man-up percentage (60 percent). On the other side, Rutgers is worst in penalties per game (3.7 and 52 total) and total penalty minutes (40). The Scarlet Knights must play smart and get into foul trouble. Getting into foul trouble means your defense is running around and doing extra work. Combine then with not winning faceoffs and your defense working overtime because of that as well, it's a recipe for disaster.
5) Thursday is put up or shut up time. The Scarlet Knights are on the fringe of missing out on the NCAA Tournament once against. You could argue they were snubbed the last two seasons (for good reasons), but this year, not so much, despite being highly ranked. Rutgers is fighting for one of the last at-large bids. The loss to Ohio State didn't held as it is backing its way into the conference tournament. But, a win over Maryland will help the Scarlet Knights' chances. And, if they are able to somehow catch fire these next two games and win the conference crown, they'll be in.
