Rutgers University
No. 16 Penn
WLAX Upended at No. 16/19 Penn
Mar 02 | Women's Lacrosse
PHILADELPHIA - Despite a valiant second-half effort Wednesday by Rutgers women's lacrosse, the Scarlet Knights were held off, 15-8, at Franklin Field by No. 16/19 Penn. Seven Scarlet Knights combined for the eight goals in the loss. Freshman goalkeeper Devon Kearns (Marlton, N.J.), who earned her first-career start, made six saves in 38:30 minutes of play.
Freshman attack Emily Santana (Springfield Del. County, Pa.) led Rutgers with a pair of goals for her second multi-score outing this season. The rookie sensation has scored five goals in three games played on just six shots attempted.
Santana's classmate, Abigail Lee Brooks (Moorestown, N.J.), benefited from an Amanda Turturro (Farmingdale, N.Y.) assist with less than 10 minutes remaining in regulation to bury the first goal of her young career. Wednesday marked Brooks' first action as a Scarlet Knight.
At that point in the game RU (1-4) trailed by seven, but the goal was a key part of a 4-2 run for the Scarlet Knights to end the contest. After falling behind in the first half on a 7-0 run to the stingy Quakers (2-1), Rutgers settled down to play an even 8-8 game in the final 34:18.
Rutgers outscored Penn, 7-4, in the final 20 minutes of action, receiving offense from senior captain Halley Barnes (Garnet Valley, Pa.), junior defender Macy Scott (Toms River, N.J.), redshirt senior midfielder Kristin Kocher (Medford, N.J.), and leading RU point-getter Kristina Dunphey (Hillsborough, N.J.).
Sophomore middie Paige Paratore (West Deptford, N.J.), who has scored in consecutive games, got Rutgers on the board first with 4:18 remaining in the first half.
Kearns (0-1) took the first loss of her career in cage. Sophomore goalkeeper Bianca Dente (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) came into the game in the second half and made four saves in the last 21:30.
Rutgers returns to High Point Solutions Stadium on Saturday, March 5 to face No. 19/20 UConn at 1 p.m. The game will stream live on BTN Plus.
Game Notes
- Penn represented the second ranked opponent of the season for Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights face their third Saturday in No. 19/20 UConn.
- Dunphey was held to a goal at Penn, but continues to lead Rutgers with 13 points (11g, 2a).
- Paratore scored for the second consecutive game.
- Turturro tied her career- and season-high with four draw controls. She led RU in the category for the first time since the season opening win over Villanova on Feb. 14.
- Turturro and redshirt junior Chrissy Schreiber (East Meadow, N.Y.) both tallied assists. Turturro is second on the team with three helpers. The assist for Schreiber was her first point since scoring two goals in the BIG EAST Tournament semifinals vs. No. 17 Louisville on May 1, 2014.
- Rutgers' series lead over Penn slipped to 9-8 all-time.
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