Red-Hot Men's Lacrosse Goes for Fourth-Consecutive Win at Rutgers
4/14/2006 12:41:26 AM | Men's Lacrosse
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Coming off back-to-back victories against Top 10-ranked opponents and riding a three-game winning streak, the No. 12 Syracuse men’s lacrosse team (4-4) looks to keep things rolling against unranked Rutgers at Yurcak Field on April 15. Faceoff is set for 12 p.m. The Syracuse ISP Radio Network (1260 AM) will provide its broadcast of the game with SU Director of Lacrosse Operations Lelan Rogers filling in alongside Brian Higgins with color commentary. The broadcast can be heard through Orange All Access right here at suathletics.com
ESPN360 is the exclusive broadcaster/webcaster of this game. Frank Giardina and Mark Dixon will provide the play-by-play and commentary. ESPN360 is allowing for FREE access to all Syracuse and Rutgers students using on-campus computers. ESPN360 is carried free by several major internet providers, including Verizon, Adelphia, Suscom, Mediacom, Frontier DSL and others.
SU started the season with a 1-4 record, including a 9-8 loss at home to Hobart on March 28. Since that game, the Orange has rattled off wins against Loyola (12-6), #6 Princeton (7-5) and #4 Cornell (12-11).
Syracuse must be wary of the Scarlet Knights, a team that has been successful against the Orange on its home turf. Rutgers has won three of the last five meetings played at Yurcak Field, including a 14-10 decision the last time these two teams met here in 2004.
Redshirt freshman goaltender Peter Coluccini’s play these last three games has been a key cog to SU’s success. He totaled 49 saves in the Orange’s last three wins (16.3 saves per game), including a career-high 19 saves in the win against Princeton. Freshman midfielder Pat Perritt took over with the game on the line Tuesday night against Cornell. He scored three fourth-quarter goals, including the game-winning shot with 48 seconds remaining.
Rutgers brings a 5-4 record into this matchup. Coach Jim Stagnitta’s team lost at Loyola last weekend, 9-4. Prior to that, the Scarlet Knights had won three-straight outings against Hobart (8-7 OT), Stony Brook (6-3) and St. John’s (4-3). Other wins for Rutgers include an 11-3 decision against Butler and a 15-2 pasting of Manhattan. RU has lost to Delaware (10-6), Fairfield (11-7) and Army (5-4).
A huge scoring discrepancy can be found between these two opponents. SU has scored 20 more goals than Rutgers while playing one less game than the Scarlet Knights. Meanwhile, defensively, RU has given up 53 goals in nine games (5.9), while Syracuse has allowed 85 goals in eight games (10.6). It should be interesting to see which team sets the tempo.
Matt Gaines leads Rutgers in scoring with 12 goals for 16 points. Chris Doctor is tied for the team lead in points (16) with nine goals and seven assists. Devon Britts also has nine goals. The starting goaltender is Greg Havalchak. He owns a 5.98 goals against average and a .634 save percentage.
This will mark the 42nd meeting between Syracuse and Rutgers. The Orange controls the all-time series record, 33-8. Last year at the Carrier Dome, SU posted a 17-6 triumph.
