PISCATAWAY, N.J. – With a spot in the Big Ten Tournament still in play, Rutgers women's lacrosse hosts No. 25 Johns Hopkins Saturday afternoon for a 1 p.m. contest at High Point Solutions Stadium. With a win, the Scarlet Knights will all but secure the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament, held from May 4-6 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Saturday's game will stream live via BTN2Go, with Lou Brogno on the call.
 
Prior to its game with the Blue Jays, the program will honor its eight seniors – Amanda Casten, Bianca Dente, Nicole Kopyta, Alana Navaroli, Paige Paratore, Kerri Puckhaber, Sydney Quinn and Joanna Reilly. Saturday's matchup will also serve as the team's One Love game, as the Scarlet Knights continue to work with the foundation to ensure everyone understands the difference between a healthy and unhealthy relationship.
 
Last Time Out
RU suffered a 19-7 loss at No. 7 Northwestern last Saturday in Evanston, Illinois. Freshman Taralyn Naslonski secured her third hat trick of the season, while Kopyta contributed two goals in the loss.
 
Scouting No. 25 Johns Hopkins
Johns Hopkins enters Saturday with a 9-7 record and a 2-3 mark in conference action. In their last time out, the Blue Jays dropped a close 9-8 decision to No. 9 Towson Wednesday in Baltimore. Mackenzie Heldberg pulled JHU within one with 1:24 to play, but the visiting Tigers held on for the win. Seven games for Johns Hopkins have been decided by three goals or less, with the Blue Jays holding a 2-5 record in those matchups.
 
Miranda Ibello leads the team with 51 points and 29 assists, while Maggie Schneidereith has produced a team-high 35 goals in 2018. On defense, Caroline Hoeg has collected 33 ground balls with Jean Kachris causing a team-high 18 turnovers. In cage, Haley Crosson has saved 139 shots to go along with a 10.23 GAA.
 
The Series
Johns Hopkins leads the all-time series with Rutgers, 3-0, with all three matchups coming in Big Ten play. Last season, the Scarlet Knights dropped a 19-7 decision to the Blue Jays in Baltimore to conclude the 2017 season. Paratore had two goals in that loss, while Reilly, Abbey Brooks, Dana Gisonno and Samantha Budd all found the back of the net against JHU.
 
Paratore Filling the Stat Sheet
Paratore has produced 11 multi-goal outings this season, the most for RU in 2018. Paratore has scored two or more goals in seven of her last nine games, has contributed five hat tricks and leads the team with 30 goals in 16 games played.
 
Paratore saved her best game of the season for a national TV audience, as the senior scored a career-high four goals in the win over Michigan on April 12 on BTN. Paratore's fourth goal came in overtime, as she drilled the game-winning shot with just seconds left on the shot clock to help RU to victory.
 
100 Draws for Navaroli
With her three draw controls on April 12 against Michigan, senior Navaroli became the sixth player in program history to reach the 100-draw control mark for her career. Navarolli has 108 draw controls for her career and needs just six more to tie Jenn Vlahos for fifth on the program's all-time list.
 
Tough 2018 Schedule
Rutgers possesses one of the toughest schedules in the country. The Scarlet Knights have already played four of the Top-10 programs in No. 3 Maryland, No. 4 James Madison, No. 7 Northwestern and No. 9 UPenn, and have also faced No. 17 Penn State. RU's matchup with No. 25 Johns Hopkins will be its seventh against a team ranked in the coaches poll, as Rutgers also played then-No. 21 Cornell last month in Ithaca, New York.
 
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