#12 Black Knights Set to Host #10 Rutgers

Saturday, February 17

West Point, NY

2:30 PM

Army West Point

#10/11 Rutgers

#12 Black Knights Set to Host #10 Rutgers

February 16, 2018 | Men's Lacrosse

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The 12th-ranked Army West Point men's lacrosse team will face its first ranked opponent this weekend when it hosts No. 10 Rutgers Saturday at Michie Stadium

The matchup will begin at 2:30 p.m. after the women's lacrosse team takes on Marist.

#12 ARMY (2-0, 0-0 Patriot League)

Army looks to continue its hot streak at home and has gone 8-1 in the last two seasons at Michie Stadium.
The Black Knights had 12 victories in 2017, which was the most successful season under head coach Joe Alberici, who returns for his 13th season at the helm.
He now boasts 107 wins at Army and 115 in his career.
Army is off to a 2-0 start in 2018 with wins over UMass (18-6) and NJIT (14-5).
The 18 goals against UMass were the most in the series for the Black Knights.
The tallies were also the most in a season opener since 1993 when Army beat Cornell 18-5.
Against NJIT, the Black Knights allowed just five goals which was a low in the series.
Nate Jones recorded the fifth hat trick of his career and the second of the 2018 season against the Highlanders.
David Symmes, Conor Glancy and Ted Glesener also have hat tricks on the year.
The senior class has 34 wins in their careers.

HOW TO FOLLOW
VIDEO • Patriot League Network
RADIO • 1420-AM WLNA
LIVE STATS • sidearmstats.com/army/mlax
TWITTER • @ArmyWP_MLax
GAME NOTES • GoArmyWestPoint.com

#7 RUTGERS (2-0, 0-0 B1G)

Like Army, Rutgers is off to a 2-0 start to the year.
The Scarlet Knights defeated Robert Morris (11-7) and St. John's (12-8).
Jules Heningburg has already amassed 11 points on five goals and six assists.
Casey Rose has five goals and is followed by Christian Mazzone and Christian Trasolini each have three.
Alex Schoen leads the team with 5.0 ground balls per game and a .553 efficiency on the faceoff.
Defensively, Garrett Michaeli tops the team with three caused turnovers.
Max Edelmann has seen the full 120 minutes of action in net for Rutgers has boasts a 7.50 goals against average and .483 save percentage.

CONTINUING THE MOMENTUM

The Black Knights are looking to build on its momentum from last season.
Army defeated Notre Dame in its season finale in an overtime thriller.
The Black Knights' Symmes charged through a defender on the Fighting Irish and beat their goalie with a bounce shot to secure the team's second win over a top-five opponent that season.
Army just missed the postseason, but looks to bring that drive and momentum into the 2018 season.

PRESEASON HONORS

Surdick has headlined the preseason awards for Army. The junior defender was named to the Inside Lacrosse Media Preseason All-American second team earlier this week.
Surdick was also voted the Patriot League's Preseason Defensive Player of the year.
Symmes joined his teammate on the All-American list on the honorable mention.
He was also named to the All-Patriot League Preseason Team.

NATIONAL RECOGNITION

The Black Knights have moved up in national polls after their convincing win over UMass.
They were slated 12th in the Nike/US Lacrosse Magazine Poll and 13th in the Inside Lacrosse Maverik Media Poll.

FILLING THE GAPS

Although it returned a wealth of its roster, Army will have to replace some key players from last season.
On offense, the Black Knights will look to make up for Cole Johnson's point production.
Johnson tallied 48 points for the Cadets on 29 goals and 19 assists.
Nate Jones and Conor Glancy will look to fill Johnson's shoes on the attacking end.
Perhaps the main loss to the Black Knights' is on the faceoff where specialist Dan Grabher had a .628 efficiency.
On the defensive side of the ball, Reaves Klipstein was the gel that kept them working as a well-oiled machine.
Dom Ricca has stepped into the communication role, while Jon LaMonica will play a key role with matchups.
AJ Barretto returns to net for the Black Knights behind the strong defensive unit.

LUCKY NUMBER 13

Head coach Joe Alberici enters his 13th season at the helm of the Army West Point lacrosse team.
The 2017 season's 12-4 record and .750 winning percentage.
It was only the second team in its history to reach 12 wins in a season with the other coming in 1993.
Alberici led his team to victories over #6 Syracuse at the buzzer and a win over #4 Notre Dame in overtime.
The two wins were half of the team's one-goal victories last season.

NATIONAL AUDIENCE

The Black Knights will play on CBS Sports Network for three contests this season.
The first matchup on national television is at Boston University on April 7 at 3:15 pm as part of tripleheader of Patriot League action.
The following week, the greatest rivalry in college lacrosse, Army-Navy, takes center stage at Michie Stadium with a noon faceoff on April 14.
The final regular season game for the Black Knights on CBS Sports Network will be the final Patriot League matchup of the season at Loyola at 7 p.m. on April 20.
The semifinal and championship rounds of the Patriot League Men's Lacrosse Championship will be televised by CBS Sports Network for the 10th-consecutive season.
The semifinal round is set for Friday, April 27, with the championship game scheduled for Sunday, April 29.
All three games will be hosted by the tournament's top overall seed.
The Patriot League Women's Lacrosse Championship will also be televised live by CBS Sports Network on Sunday, May 6 at noon.

EARLY ARMY LEADERS

Jones and Symmes lead the Black Knights offensively with eight points apiece. Jones boasts a team-leading six goals, while Symmes has five.
Ragno went 17-for-25 on faceoffs and is first on the team with ground balls (9).
AJ Barretto has been the Black Knights' starting goalie and has made 11 saves. He posts a 4.92 goals against average and a .611 save percentage.

GOALIE OF THE WEEK

Following a 10-save performance in the season opener, junior goaltender AJ Barretto of the Army West Point men's lacrosse team was named the Patriot League Goalie of the Week.
Barretto backed the Black Knights in its 18-6 win over UMass on Saturday with 10 saves. He faced 26 shots and now boasts an unblemished 3-0 record against the Minutemen.
He posted a .625 save percentage and 6.51 goals against average in the win.
The Black Knights held UMass to 0-for-3 on extra man opportunities.

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