PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers women's lacrosse (1-0, 0-0) defeated LIU (0-1, 0-0), 15-9, on Saturday afternoon at SHI Stadium. The victory was the first for head coach Melissa Lehman, who took over the program this season after a standout 10-year coaching career at UPenn.
 
Senior captain Samantha Budd produced five goals, including a first half hat trick, to pace the Scarlet Knight offense, while sophomore Marin Hartshorn added five points on four assists and a goal in the second half. Rookies Jenna Byrne (2 G, 1 A), Cassidy Spilis (2 G) and Janey Galski (1 G) all netted their first career goals, as seven rookies made their collegiate debuts against the Sharks.
 
RU used a 35-27 shooting advantage and forced 22 LIU turnovers to dictate the pace of the contest. Freshman Alonna Gliksman earned the first win of her career in cage with nine stops in 60 minutes of action.
 
"I loved our energy," Lehman said. "One thing we've preached leading up to this game and this season is being relentless, and we caused a lot of turnovers today that led to more possessions and ultimately more shots. It felt great to get that first win for everyone involved."
 
Redshirt sophomore Monica Dresnin was the first to score for Rutgers in 2020, as her unassisted strike at 22:23 made it 1-1. After the squads traded goals, the Scarlet Knights closed with a 6-1 scoring run in the final 15 minutes of the first half. Budd netted three consecutive goals during the stretch, including an unassisted goal at 5:04 to make it 5-2 RU. Galksi, Spilis and junior Taralyn Naslonski also contributed to the run as Rutgers entered the locker room with an 8-3 advantage.
 
LIU, which is beginning its first year after it combined rosters from LIU Brooklyn (DI) and LIU Post (DII), scored the first three goals of the second half, as Rachel Masullo's score made it just 8-6 with 25 minutes to go. However, the Scarlet Knights closed out the game with a 7-3 scoring run to put the game out of reach. Budd added two more goals during that stretch to finish with five on the day.
 
Up Next
Rutgers hits the road for its next game when it faces Temple on Wednesday (Feb. 12) in Philadelphia for a 3 p.m. matchup.

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