PHILADELPHIA – Despite a late rally consisting of a 4-0 scoring run, Rutgers women's lacrosse (0-1, 0-0) dropped its season opener to Temple (1-0, 0-0), 12-8, Saturday afternoon at Hawthorn Field in Philadelphia.
 
Senior midfielder Paige Paratore recorded her first-career hat trick for the Scarlet Knights, while sophomore midfielder Samantha Budd tied the program single-game record with 12 draw controls in the loss. RU won the draw control battle, 16-6.
 
"It definitely felt like a first game for us and there were things we need to tie up and do a better job of," said head coach Laura Brand Sias. "It seemed like we had a bit of the jitters for a lot of the first half and we were unable to control the controllables. On the positive side, we did a really nice job on the draw and had stretches in the second half where collectively we were doing nice things on both sides of the ball. But it just was not enough. Temple's flow was better than ours, so we just need to move past this one and do a better job in our next game."
 
With Temple up 11-5 at the 11:55 mark, Rutgers began to chip away at the Owls' lead. Senior attack Joanna Reilly contributed an unassisted goal, while junior transfer midfielder Allie Ferrara converted on a free position attempt to make it 11-6 in favor of Temple.
 
The Scarlet Knights continued the scoring run thanks to Paratore, who netted her third goal of the day at the 6:52 mark in the second half to make it just a 11-7 game. Budd followed with an unassisted goal with 5:18 left in the contest to make it 11-8, but Temple midfielder Nicole Barretta netted her fourth goal of the contest with just 2:17 left to seal RU's fate.
 
In the first half, junior attack Abbey Brooks scored the first goal of the game and the season, coming from behind the cage to find the back of the net for a 1-0 Rutgers' lead at the 28:56 mark in the first period.
 
Temple would score three consecutive goals after Brooks' strike before Budd found Paratore in the crease to make it a 3-2 contest. Both teams would then trade goals, which included Paratore's second of the game. The unassisted goal made it 4-3 Owls with 17:53 left in the half.
 
Three more goals for Temple followed before redshirt senior attack Nicole Kopyta found sophomore attack Jordan Drab to make it a 7-4 contest. The Owls would find the back of the cage with less than three minutes left in the first half, while Brooks' attempt off a pass from Budd was saved by goalkeeper Maryn Lowell to preserve the 8-4 score at halftime. 
 
Earning the start between the pipes, junior Goalkeeper Devon Kearns produced eight saves, including five in the first half. Her first-half performance included stops on two free position attempts in the final five minutes of the opening period.
 
The Scarlet Knights have a quick turnaround, traveling to face LIU Brooklyn on Tuesday (Feb. 13) for a 4 p.m. out-of-conference matchup.
 
Knight Notes
- Budd tied the single-game draw control record with her 12 against Temple. Teammate Alana Navaroli also produced 12 last season against Manhattan.
- The three-goal performance from Paratore was the first hat trick of her career. Paratore previously had five two-goal outings during her time with the program.
- Rutgers out-drew its opponent, 16-6, thanks to 12 from Budd, and one each from Navaroli, Paratore and redshirt sophomore Emily Santana.
- Ferrara and freshman midfielder Taralyn Naslonski made their Rutgers' debuts. The game marked Naslonski's collegiate debut.
 
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