- Chris Jastrzembski
Previewing Rutgers' 2022 men's lacrosse schedule
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights are the 38th team in our 2022 men’s college lacrosse schedule preview series and the second team from the Big Ten. Rutgers went 9-4 overall in 2021 and 8-2 in Big Ten play in a conference-only regular season. The Scarlet Knights fell to Johns Hopkins in the Big Ten semifinals, but made it to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2004. Rutgers defeated Lehigh in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to North Carolina in overtime in the quarterfinals.
Here's their entire 2022 spring schedule:
WHO'S IN?
LIU Sharks (2/5)
Marist Red Foxes (2/9)
Hofstra Pride (3/19)
WHO'S OUT?
Quinnipiac Bobcats (20-9 W in 2020)
CIRCLE THESE DATES
2/19 vs. Army West Point: Eight of the last nine meetings have been decided by one or two goals. The exception was their last meeting in 2020, which Army won by 11. That was the widest margin of victory by any team in the series since 1971. Both teams are tournament caliber teams yet again and could be a game that has implications come May.
2/26 at Loyola: Another tough Patriot League contest a week later is at Ridley against the Greyhounds. When these teams met two years ago, Ross Scott was stopped by Colton Teitelbaum with a second left in regulation to preserve the win for the Greyhounds. Rutgers is 1-11 all-time against Loyola with their only win coming in 2007.
4/3 vs. Johns Hopkins: Conference play favors Rutgers quite well. They'll have Ohio State, Johns Hopkins, and Penn State all at home this season, and all three of those teams were bunched up in last year's conference-only schedule. Specifically with Hopkins, the Blue Jays beat the Scarlet Knights at Panzer Stadium in last year's Big Ten semifinals. Since entering the Big Ten in 2015, Rutgers is 4-5 against Johns Hopkins.
4/10 at Maryland: Until otherwise, Maryland remains the top team in the Big Ten. There has not been a team as consistently great as the Terrapins since the formation of Big Ten lacrosse. Despite a number of close finishes, Rutgers is 1-30 all-time against the Terps, with the lone win coming in 1980.