Men's Lacrosse | 3/16/2017 12:42:00 PM
NJIT men's lacrosse hosts #5 Rutgers Friday night for a 7pm game at Drew University's Ranger Stadium.
For the second consecutive year the Highlanders call Ranger Stadium home while construction continues on the new Wellness and Events Center at NJIT's campus.
ALL TIME SERIES
The Highlanders (0-7) and the Scarlet Knights (7-0) have played each other since men's lacrosse became a varsity sport at NJIT.
Rutgers leads the series 2-0, defeating the Highlanders 21-2 on March 20, 2015 and 16-3 on March 18, 2016.
This is the first time NJIT is hosting for a game.
A LOOK AT THE SCARLET KNIGHTS
The undefeated Scarlet Knights just came off a 16-11 win over #15 Princeton Wednesday night.
It was Rutgers third straight ranked victory, having previously beat #14 Stony Brook and #19 Brown.
Rutgers ranks sixth in Division I in scoring, averaging 13.43 goals per game.
The top Scarlet Knight is Jules Heningburg, who leads the team in assists with 13 and points with 26. Heningburg, who was named to the Tewaaraton Award watch list on February 28, received Big Ten Preseason honors, was named Third Team Preseason All-American by Inside Lacrosse and was a First Team All-Big Ten selection last season.
Freshman Keiran Mullins is Rutgers leading scorer with 16 goals. Mullins earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors twice already this season.
Connor Murphy, Jeff George, and Casey Rose each have 11 goals, round out the top five in points.
On the x, Joe Francisco has gone 79-139 posting a .568 percentage and leads the team in ground balls with 45.
Michael Rexrode has team-leading 15 caused turnovers and with fellow starting defenseman Chris Groel and Alex Bronzo tally 63 ground balls and 27 caused turnovers.
Max Edelmann has saved 71 shots so far and holds a .582 save percentage in his 7-0 start to 2017.
A LOOK AT THE HIGHLANDERS
The Highlanders compete against another ranked team after losing 19-6 to #8/10 Army on Monday.
Aaron Forster comes off the loss becoming the Highlanders all-time leader in points with 41 (26g, 15a) and the all-time leader in assists with 15.
Sophomore Forster leads the team in goals with 11, while
Ryan Callaghan leads in points with 15 and assists with five.
Ryan Darrow is third on the team with eight goals and four assists for 12 points.
John Tachon has a team-leading 36 ground balls and nine caused turnovers. Freshman Tachon ranks 33
rd in Division I in ground balls per game with 5.14.
In goal for the Highlanders have been
Nick Marzullo and
Cameron Cronk. Marzullo has accumulated 45 saves and holds a .437 save percentage, while Cronk has 41 saves and a .461 save percentage.
NEXT TIME OUT
The Highlanders travel to Fairfield on Tuesday, March 21 for a 3pm game at Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium.
