Can Rutgers men's lacrosse get over hump in 2018? 'We make our own destiny'

The Scarlet Knights stormed to an 8-0 start last season and climbed to the top spot in the Inside Lacrosse national poll. Then the bottom fell out as they lost four of their last six to miss the four-team Big Ten Tournament and, ultimately, land on the wrong side of the NCAA bubble.

Rutgers thought it had salvaged its chance for an at-large bid to the tournament by upsetting No. 3 Ohio State at home in overtime in the season finale. Even now, it sounds like the Scarlet Knights still feel that way.

“We had a great win over the No. 3-ranked team in the country to end last year, so I thought last year ended very well on the field for us,” head coach Brian Brecht said. “Obviously I thought we handled our business on the field and got a big win at the end. Ten-win season, back-to-back, for the first time in school history.”

It wasn’t enough.

“Maybe leaving it in the hands of the committee, if you don’t win the conference championship, that’s the way all NCAA tournaments work,” Brecht said. “So we have to do a better job of just controlling our own destiny a little bit for the 60 minutes in the games we have.”

That is the goal going forward. Rutgers is ranked in the preseason top-10, and it’s determined to stay there. The Scarlet Knights hope a renewed focus, and a beefed-up schedule, will allow them to do that, preferably by winning the conference title to ensure a tournament berth. A loaded roster and talented core won’t hurt either.

“It’s definitely on our mind (the NCAA Tournament), but at the same time we like to look at every game as a one-game season. You can’t get to that point without winning games,” said redshirt senior Christian Trasolini, who missed all of last season due to injury. “We’ve got to put ourselves in the best possible situation when it comes to winning games and making the postseason. … It’s entirely up to us. We make our own destiny. Why let someone else choose your fate when you can choose it yourself?

Here is a closer look at the 2018 Rutgers men’s lacrosse team:

Rutgers is the nation's preseason No. 7 team according to the Inside Lacrosse and coaches polls. The Scarlet Knights are No. 8 in the Maverik media poll. Rutgers was predicted to finish third in the Big Ten this season behind Maryland and Ohio State and ahead of Hopkins, Penn State and Michigan.

Rutgers' schedule was considered somewhat light last season, and many believe it hurt the Scarlet Knights when it came to being left out of the NCAA Tournament. Rutgers' big move to shore up the schedule was adding a home game against national power Syracuse on March 18, giving it another strength of schedule game to lean on if it doesn't win the Big Ten's automatic bid. 

Rutgers will play a slew of ranked teams this year. Army, Brown, Johns Hopkins, Maryland, Ohio State, Penn State, Princeton and Syracuse are all ranked in various preseason polls.

RUTGERS' 2018 SCHEDULE:
2/3: vs. Robert Morris, 1 p.m.
2/10: vs. St. John’s, 1 p.m.
2/17: at Army, 2:30 p.m.
2/24: vs. Fairfield, 12 p.m.
3/3: at Brown, 4 p.m.
3/10: at Princeton, 1 p.m.
3/14: at Lehigh, 3 p.m.
3/18: vs. Syracuse, 1 p.m.
3/24: vs. Delaware, 7 p.m.
4/1: vs. Johns Hopkins, 1 p.m.
4/8: vs. Michigan, 12 p.m.
4/15: at Maryland, 7 p.m.
4/22: vs. Penn State, 7 p.m.
4/28: at Ohio State, 4 p.m.