U-M Set Begin B1G Tourney Title Defense Against Rutgers

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 13-ranked University of Michigan men's lacrosse team (7-6, 3-2 Big Ten) will open the 2025 Big Ten Tournament with a quarterfinal matchup against Rutgers (6-8, 2-3 Big Ten) on Saturday (April 26) at 1 p.m. inside the U-M Lacrosse Stadium.

Notes

• U-M is 7-2 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament including a 3-1 mark in the quarterfinal round. This will be the first postseason meeting between Michigan and Rutgers.

• Saturday's matchup with Rutgers is the first time Michigan will play an opponent ranked outside of the USILA top 20 since March 4. U-M has played the 15th-toughest schedule in the country this year with nine out of 13 contests coming against opponents ranked 18th or higher.

• Ryan Cohen has registered a tally in each of his 61 career games and is 14 points away from tying the program record for most in a career. He already owns the Michigan career assists record with 116 and counting, the third-highest total among active Division I student-athletes.

• Three Wolverines earned All-Big Ten honors headlined by Cohen and Pace Billings' first team selections. Aidan Mulholland also picked up a second-team nod.

• The Michigan defense, which boasts the 13th lowest goals per game average in the nation, has caused double-digit turnovers in the last four games. Mason Whitney, Pace Billings and Kees van Wees have combined for 61 caused turnovers with Whitney and Billings ranking second and third in the Big Ten, respectively, at 23 and 22 takeaways this season.

• The Maize and Blue faithful set a new facility attendance record last weekend with 2,835 fans watching Michigan take on Ohio State. The crowd surpassed the previous U-M Lacrosse Stadium record of 2,767 set earlier this year against Notre Dame (March 15).

• Alex Lobel and Bo Lockwood have thrived as attackmen since assuming starting roles against No. 14 Johns Hopkins earlier this season. Lobel is averaging two points per game in four starts while only committing three turnovers, and Lockwood has racked up six points in that span.

• A win against Rutgers will setup a rematch with No. 6 Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals next weekend in Ann Arbor.