Men's Lacrosse Hosts Rutgers, VMI

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army men's lacrosse team continues its homestand to start the season with a pair of games at Michie Stadium against Rutgers and VMI.

The Black Knights welcome the Scarlet Knights for a Saturday afternoon tilt at 2:30 p.m., while VMI comes to West Point for a Sunday matchup at 12 p.m. at Michie Stadium.

HOW TO FOLLOW
TELEVISION • None
RADIO • 1440 WLNA/1260 WBNR
VIDEO • Patriot League Network
AUDIO • Knight Vision ($)
LIVE STATISTICS • sidearmstats.com/army/mlax/
GAME NOTES • Army Notes • Rutgers Notes
TWITTER • ArmyWP_MLax

THE OPENING FACEOFF
The Army Black Knights opened their 99th season last Friday with a 9-5 win over Massachusetts thanks to a balanced attack and smothering defense. Army saw eight different goal scorers and allowed the lowest total of goals in a season opener since 2008. The Black Knights are back this weekend for a pair of home games to end their three-game homestand to start the season with visits from Rutgers and VMI. The Scarlet Knights kicked off their season last weekend with a 19-11 win over St. John's, while the Keydets open their campaign on Saturday at Saint Joseph's.

STACKPOLE, GRABHER EARN WEEKLY HONORS
After downing UMass, Tim Stackpole and Dan Grabher were both honored with weekly awards by the Patriot League for their performances. Stackpole was named the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week, while Grabher was selected as Faceoff Specialist of the Week. Stackpole had five caused turnovers in the win, and Grabher won 8-of-12 faceoffs and picked up five ground balls.

PLEBES LEAD THE WAY
Rookie Nate Jones was Army's top scorer in the season opener with two goals and an assist for three points, while AJ Barretto became the first rookie goalie to start a season opener since Rick Aguilar in 1991. Barretto stopped four shots in his debut.

WHAT'S UP NEXT?
Army takes to the road for the first time this season with a visit to No. 5 Syracuse next Sunday at 4 p.m. The game will be carried live on ESPN3 at the Carrier Dome. The Black Knights played the Orange last season and fell 12-9 on Feb. 22, when Syracuse was ranked second in the nation.

PICKED TO FINISH FOURTH
The Patriot League announced its men's lacrosse preseason poll and all-league selections ahead of the 2016 season, and the Black Knights are selected to finish fourth in the conference. Army earned 85 points in the poll for fourth, while Loyola Maryland was picked to win the league with 122 points and 12-of-18 first-place votes. Navy was picked second after its strong showing last season as the Mids got 108 points and five top votes. The defending tournament champions, Colgate, came in at third with 105 points and took home a first-place nod.

SCOUTING THE SCARLET KNIGHTS
Rutgers comes to West Point with a 1-0 record after downing St. John's in lopsided fashion with a 19-11 victory. The Scarlet Knights are returning eight of their starters from 2015 and only lost 10 letterwinners from a season ago. Head Coach Brian Brecht is back for his fifth season at the helm of Rutgers and he has an 87-87 career record as a head coach.

Senior captain Scott Bieda had a record-breaking day with nine points (five goals, four assists), and was named NCAA and Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week. Redshirt freshman Adam Charalambides scored six times in his career debut and was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week. Overall, the Scarlet Knights had eight different scorers against the Red Storm and Alex Schoen dominated in faceoffs, going 21-for-27 with four ground balls.

In net, Max Edelmann made his Rutgers debut with the start in goal, making nine saves to earn the win over St. John's.

SERIES HISTORY
The Army-Rutgers series goes back to 1923 and this will be the 79th meeting all-time between the two schools. Army holds a 56-21-1 advantage in the series after its 9-7 win over the Scarlet Knights last season in New Brunswick, N.J. Two seasons ago, Rutgers came to West Point and snapped a six-game losing streak against the Black Knights with a 9-8 overtime victory. It was the first win at Army since 1998.

SCOUTING THE KEYDETS
VMI makes the trip North to West Point for its second game of the weekend on Sunday. The Keydets travel to Saint Joseph's on Saturday to open their campaign under new head coach Jon Birsner. This year's roster is a young one for the visitors with 15 rookies and only six seniors.

The Keydets return their second-leading scorer in senior Dan Bull, who had 10 goals and six assists in 2015. Mike DeBlasio led the team with 17 points on 14 goals and three assists, but he was lost to graduation. Wesley Sanders is back for his second season after a rookie campaign of 14 points on nine goals and five assists. The Keydets will look for more experience at the faceoff with sophomore Nate Kraemer coming back after a rookie season of just under 100 faceoffs taken. Rookie Gordon Livermore will also be in the mix for the Keydets.

In goal, sophomores Joe Riccadonna and Logan Moore are both back and are the replacement for Evan Windisch, who graduated last spring. Riccadonna played in 10 games last season with two starts and had a 1-2 mark with a .388 save percentage. Moore saw action in three games in a reserve role.

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the eighth consecutive year that Army and VMI have met on the lacrosse field. The series started back in 2009, and the Black Knights have won the first seven contests. This is the sixth meeting at West Point and Army has outscored the Keydets 80-31 in the first five meetings at home The two teams played the first indoor game in the history of Army lacrosse last season at Foley Athletic Center due to a winter storm that dumped multiple inches of snow prior and during the contest. Army won 24-3.

Men's Lacrosse Hosts Rutgers, VMI

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Players Mentioned

AJ Barretto

Dan Grabher

Nate Jones

Tim Stackpole

Army West Point Athletics