PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Behind a career-high nine points and seven goals from junior Samantha Budd, Rutgers women's lacrosse (4-3, 0-0) defeated Monmouth (3-2, 0-0), 18-13, Tuesday night at HighPoint.com Stadium. The Scarlet Knights used a 44-36 shooting advantage and a 7-0 scoring run between halves to secure the win over the Hawks, as Sophomore Taralyn Naslonski netted four goals while senior Allie Ferrara and redshirt junior Dakota Pastore each added two scores.
 
Budd was the story of the night, as the West Deptford High School product produced four goals in the first 30 minutes and added another three in the second half to finish with seven. Budd also tallied two assists in the win to set a career-high in points with nine, the second-most points tallied in a game this season by a Scarlet Knight behind Naslonski's 10 in the season opener.
 
On defense, junior Samantha Scarpello had a career-high eight ground balls and three caused turnovers. Entered off the bench early in the first half, senior Devon Kearns earned the win with a season-high eight saves, which included seven stops in the final 30 minutes.
 
"Tonight we wanted to see some better shooting and scoring opportunities than we had in our past few outings," said head coach Laura Brand Sias. "We still have room to improve there, but putting up 18 goals shows our progress in that area. Our composure and effort was just better. We fought for a full 60 minutes, so we're happy about that."
 
Rutgers raced out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first four minutes of the game. Budd found a cutting Pastore at the 28:38 mark and then netted back-to-back unassisted strikes, including a nifty scoring play in which she weaved through a host of Hawk defenders before she buried a shot over the keeper's right shoulder with 26:52 on the first-half clock.
 
Monmouth fought back for the duration of the half, but Rutgers always had an answer for the visitor's attacks. Nicole Ceraso – who finished with a team-high seven points for the visitor – tied the game 7-7 with back-to-back unassisted goals, but Rutgers closed out the half with goals from Naslonski and Budd to make it 9-7 at the break.
 
It was all Rutgers out of the locker room, as the Scarlet Knights scored the next five goals that proved to be the difference in the win. Naslonski and Budd each scored twice during the run, and Pastore added her second of the night to make it a 14-7 lead at the 26:29 mark in the contest.
 
Monmouth would get as close as four in the second half, but RU never relented. Budd's seventh goal of the night with three minutes to go gave Rutgers an 18-12 advantage, effectively putting the game out of reach.
 
Four out of the next five games for Rutgers come against ranked foes, beginning with its trip to Harrisonburg, Virginia on Saturday to face reigning national champion and No. 7 James Madison.

Notes
• Rutgers moved to 14-2 all-time against Monmouth, which includes win in the last three meetings.
• Samantha Budd set career-highs in points (9), goals (7) and shots (12). Her seven goals surpassed the six she had last season against Monmouth in West Long Branch, New Jersey.
• Taralyn Naslonski collected a career-high seven draw controls
• Taralyn Naslonski is now second in the Big Ten Conference in points-per-game (5.14), goals-per-game (3.29) and assists-per-game (1.86). She leads the program with 36 points, 23 goals and 13 assists through the first seven games of the season.
• With her four goals tonight, Taralyn Naslonski now leads the team with five hat tricks this season.
• Allie Ferrara and Jenna Martinelli each record the first assists at Rutgers.
 
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