PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Feb. 8, 2019) – Sophomore attacker Taralyn Naslonski netted seven goals and added three assists to power a high-octane offense in Rutgers women's lacrosse's season opening 20-3 victory over LIU Brooklyn on Friday afternoon at HighPoint.com Stadium.
 
"It's great to get a start like that," said head coach Laura Brand Sias. "There's always some question marks at the beginning of the season. We did some great things on the draw, which was nice to see. TT did a great job getting the ball in the back of the net, and a ton of our goals were assisted, which is something we wanted to work on early this year. We'll need to add some pressure on the defensive side of the ball, tighten up our fouls on the ride. Overall, it was a great start."
 
The Scarlet Knights (1-0) used an 18-7 advantage in draw controls to dictate the pace of the game from the opening whistle to the final train horn. Naslonski scored just 49 seconds into the game, and again 19 seconds later for a lightning quick 2-0 Rutgers lead. The sophomore from Randolph, New Jersey had a hat trick before the game was seven minutes old as the Scarlet Knights led 6-1.
 
Rutgers outshot the Blackbirds 34-11, won the groundball battle, 19-12, and posted a perfect 15-for-15 mark in clear attempts. With the draw control advantage critical to Rutgers' early pace setting, freshman attacker Marin Hartshorn led the way with nine draws won.
 
Hartshorn also turned the possessions into offense, scoring six points on four goals and two assists in her college debut. The rookie made it 3-0 early in the first, then scored the first two goals of the second half as part of a 13-0 Scarlet Knight run to end the game.
 
Rutgers' offense had nine different goal scorers, including junior midfielder Samantha Budd (2), redshirt junior midfielder Dakota Pastore (2), senior attacker Abbey Brooks, senior attacker Allie Ferrara, sophomore attacker Hannah Hollingsworth, freshman midfielder Camryn Rogers and senior midfielder Tess Howland. Brooks tied Naslonski for the team-high in assists with three.
 
Senior goalkeeper Devon Kearns picked up the victory between the pipes with three saves in the opening half before giving way to sophomore Kameron Halsall, who didn't need to make a save in a scoreless second half without a single shot on goal surrendered.
 
Rutgers stays home to host Temple on Tuesday, Feb. 12 at 3 p.m. at HighPoint.com Stadium.