No. 18 Men’s Lacrosse Hosts No. 12 Army Inside Bubble Saturday

Saturday, February 7

Piscataway, N.J.

1:00 PM

Rutgers University

Army West Point

Photo by: Mark Brown

No. 18 Men’s Lacrosse Hosts No. 12 Army Inside Bubble Saturday

Feb 05 | Men's Lacrosse

Live Stream via Facebook Live Stats Indoor Game Information Rutgers Game Notes

Game Will be Closed to the Public, Live Streamed via Facebook

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The home opener for No. 18 Rutgers men's lacrosse comes this Saturday under unique circumstances. The Scarlet Knights welcome No. 12 Army to Piscataway, with the game starting at 1 p.m. However, with Saturday's "Real Feel" temperature projected to be four degrees, with winds up to 25 miles per hour, the game has been relocated indoors, inside the Busch Practice Bubble.

The game will be closed to the general public. Rutgers Athletics will provide a live stream, which due to the relocation, will be provided free of cost via 'Facebook Live', with fans able to watch via the Rutgers' Athletics Facebook page. With the technology constraints inside the venue, the stream will be one-camera and have no announcers. Live stats via Rutgers.StatBroadcast.com and social media updates will also be available.

Rutgers typically practices inside the bubble during cold weather, and annually hosts its pre-season January home scrimmages inside the bubble. However, this will mark the first regulation game held in the bubble under head coach Brian Brecht.

About Rutgers

The Scarlet Knights play their first home game after a successful start to the season with an overtime win, 11-10, against Jacksonville last Saturday. That game was played in Naples, Florida in the Paradise Lacrosse Kickoff Classic hosted by 'The Circuit' and 'NXT Sports'.

Colin Kurdyla led RU with four goals in the game. A Big Ten Preseason Player to Watch and RU's leading returning scorer after posting 27 goals and 13 assists in an All-American season last year, Kurdyla's four tallies matched his career-high, previously done twice last season against Michigan and St. John's.

Colin Kelly scored the game-winning goal in overtime for RU, finding space on the opening possession of extra time and ripping home a shot. The Canisius transfer has 87 career collegiate goals.

Cardin Stoller was named the MVP of the contest. The goalkeeper made 13 saves and allowed just two goals across the last 25 minutes of game action.

Rutgers had four players named Preseason All-Americans this season. Ryan Splaine (Second Team/Third Team), Joe Juengerkes (Second Team/Third Team), Colin Kurdyla (Honorable Mention) and Cardin Stoller (Third Team/Honorable Mention) were all recognized.

Rutgers graduated just one of its top 12 goal scorers last season (Dante Kulas) and brings back the top nine goal scorers. In addition to Kurdyla's 27 scores, Colin Kelly (16 goals), Colin Zeller (13 goals), Shane Murphy (12 goals) and JJ Aiello (11 goals, 13 assists) all made up the top-five in goal scoring, with Sommer posting 21 points on six goals and a team-high 15 assists.

About Army

No. 12 ranked Army opened the season indoors last Saturday, shifting to their indoor facility while hosting UMass, and earning a 14-8 win.

Sophomore Hill Plunkett, a First Team All-Patriot League selection as a rookie, had five goals, while freshman Gus Bell and sophomore Brayden Fountain had two goals apiece. Senior goalkeeper Sean Byrne made 11 saves, and Robert Simone was 12-of-19 on faceoffs with nine ground balls. Plunkett (Offense), Byrne (Goalkeeper) and Bell (Rookie) all won weekly awards from the Patriot League office.

Evan Plunkett, a two-time All-American, was named a Preseason All-American this season, along with Byrne. Evan Plunkett had 14 goals last season and was the 2024 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year.

Army was selected as the Patriot League preseason favorites. The team was ranked 12, 12 and 14 in the three preseason polls. The Black Knights were 12-2 last season, but fell to Cornell in their opening game of the Patriot League tournament, and were left out of the NCAA Tournament despite being ranked fourth nationally in the polls the week prior.

Head Coach Joe Alberici enters his 21st season with a record of 184-113 at the helm of the Army lacrosse program for the 2026 season. He is 13-5 against Rutgers since taking the helm in 2006 and 8-4 against RU since Brian Brecht took the helm 'On the Banks' in 2012.

About the Series

This will be the 88th meeting between the two schools, the second most played rivalry in program history behind Princeton. The Scarlet Knights have won 25, with one tie. Army has claimed the last three games in the series. Since 2012, RU has four wins against Army (2014, 2016, 2017, 2022). That game in 2022 was Rutgers' last win over Army in Piscataway, a 13-10 win behind six goals from Ronan Jacoby and three apiece from Shane Knobloch and Brian Cameron, when Army was ranked No. 10 nationally.

Traditionally played on the third weekend of February since 2017, it marks the first time that RU has faced Army as its second opponent of the season since that 2017 season and the earliest on the calendar that the RU-Army game has ever been played. The game has been played annually every year since World War II other than the 2021 Covid-19 pandemic related adjusted conference only schedule.

Rutgers season opener on January 31 against Jacksonville was the earliest game in program history. This marks the earliest on the calendar that RU will play its second game of the year.

With a Win

First ranked win of the season
Fifth ranked win in past two seasons
First win over Army since 2022 and would improve to 5-6 against Army since 2014.

Up Next

Rutgers returns to the road next Saturday, traveling to Stony Brook. The Seawolves open their season on Friday, traveling to Sacred Heart, and are scheduled to host Rutgers at noon in their home opener. Rutgers returns home to host Villanova (Feb. 21), LIU (Feb. 24) and Hofstra (Feb. 28).