PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers women's lacrosse heads to the Empire State to take on No. 21 Cornell on Saturday afternoon in Ithaca, New York. The Scarlet Knights are looking for their second consecutive victory in 2018 and the fourth win in six chances in the series with the Big Red.
 
Last Time Out
Senior Amanda Casten caused seven turnovers to tie a program record, junior Abbey Brooks contributed a game-high four goals and Rutgers earned a 14-8 win over Niagara Tuesday night at High Point Solutions Stadium. After the Purple Eagles tied with the Scarlet Knights midway through the second half, RU closed out the game with an 8-1 scoring run to earn their fifth win of the season and third at home in 2018.
 
Three players – senior Paige Paratore, junior Dana Gisonno and sophomore Samantha Budd – each added two goals, as eight Scarlets Knights scored in the win. On defense, Casten scooped up a game-high six ground balls while Paratore added five ground balls and three caused turnovers. Senior Alana Navaroli corralled four draw controls.
 
Inserted midway through the second half, senior Bianca Dente produced seven saves and a ground ball to earn her first win of the season.
 
Scouting Cornell
Cornell enters Saturday's game with a 5-3 record, which includes a 2-1 mark in Ivy League action. In its last time out, Cornell downed conference foe Yale, 13-8, last Saturday for a home victory. Tomasina Leska and Ida Farinholt each had four goals in the win.
 
Through eight games, Caroline Allen leads the team with 22 points and 19 goals, while Sarah Phillips has dished out a team-high five assists. In cage, Kaite McGahan sports a 9.94 GAA and a .497 save percentage to go along with 73 saves.
 
The Series
Cornell leads the all-time series between the two schools, 13-4. Each of the last five games between Cornell and Rutgers have been decided by four goals or less, with two decided by one goal.
 
In their last meeting, despite a late comeback attempt, Rutgers fell to No. 7 Cornell, 12-9, last season at High Point Solutions Stadium. Kristina Dunphey contributed two goals, while the Scarlet Knights outshot the Big Red, 34-27, in the loss. Along with outshooting Cornell, RU forced 16 Big Red turnovers compared to Rutgers' 10. Eight Scarlet Knights produced a goal in the loss, while Amanda Turturro contributed three points on one goal and two assists.

Stacking Up Against the Big Ten
Budd and senior Kerri Puckhaber (10th, 2.00 GPG) rank within the top-10 of individual goal scorers within the conference. Brooks is sixth in the Big Ten with 1.09 assists per game, while Puckhaber is ninth with 2.90 points per game. On defense, junior Regina Sharp is fourth in the Big Ten with 2.27 ground balls per game, while junior Devon Kearns is third in saves per game with 7.82. Budd is seventh in draw controls with 3.4 per contest.
 
Tough 2018 Schedule
Rutgers possesses one of the toughest schedules in the country and has already been put to the test midway through the season.
 
The Scarlet Knights have played No. 4 James Madison, No. 6 Penn and No. 18 Penn State this season, and are set to compete against No. 2 Maryland, No. 12 Northwestern, No. 21 Cornell and No. 23 Johns Hopkins in 2018.
 
Paratore Filling the Stat Sheet
Paratore has produced seven multi-goal outings this season, the most for RU in 2018. Paratore has scored two or more goals in three of her last four games and has three hat tricks in 2018.
 
Next Time Out
The Scarlet Knights return to High Point Solutions Stadium next Tuesday to host Lafayette for a 7 p.m. matchup in Piscataway.
 
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