COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Rutgers women's lacrosse (6-8, 0-3) dropped a 14-6 road matchup with No. 2 Maryland (12-1, 3-0) Friday night in College Park. Senior Paige Paratore recorded her 10^th multi-goal outing of the season, while senior Nicole Kopyta, junior Allie Ferrara, sophomore Samantha Budd and freshman Taralyn Naslonski all added scores against the Terrapins.
 
The Scarlet Knights held the Terrapins below their 6.41 second-half scoring average, allowing just five goals in the final 30 minutes of play. Junior Devon Kearns saved 11 shots, the second time she has done that in as many games, while RU forced UMD into 13 turnovers. RU produced 16 ground balls to Maryland's 14, with senior Amanda Casten corralling a game-high five ground balls to go along with a game-high two caused turnovers.
 
"We did some really nice things throughout the game, but a team of Maryland's caliber is going to capitalize on your mistakes," said head coach Laura Brand Sias. "We need to learn from this and tighten up in preparation for Michigan on Thursday."
 
Rutgers was the first to score on Friday night, as Paratore found the back of the cage in the opening four minutes to give the Scarlet Knights a 1-0 lead. Three consecutive goals followed for the Terrapins before Ferrara made it a 3-2 ballgame with 21:30 left in the half.
 
After Maryland answered with a goal, Paratore scored on another unassisted strike to make it 5-3 with 16:22 on the clock in the opening period. Paratore has now scored two or more goals in six of her last seven games and owns 26 goals this season, good for second on the team.
 
Naslonski would add one more for the Scarlet Knights in the first half, as Maryland secured a 9-4 lead at halftime.
 
Rutgers would not go away in the second half, allowing the Terrapins to score just twice in the first 18 minutes. Kopyta converted a free position attempt with 17:42 left in the game, while junior Amanda Romano found Budd for RU's final goal of the night at the 9:08 mark in the second half. However, back-to-back goals for UMD in the final minutes would secure the Terrapins' 14-6 win.
 
Rutgers returns to action next Thursday, when they host Michigan under the lights for a 7 p.m. ET contest on BTN.
 
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