PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Behind senior captain
Samantha Budd's 100
th career goal and hat tricks from Budd, junior
Taralyn Naslonski and rookie
Cassidy Spilis, Rutgers women's lacrosse (5-4) cruised to a 19-10 victory over Lafayette (4-3) on Tuesday night at SHI Stadium. Seven Scarlet Knights scored in the dominant win over the Leopards, as RU outshot its opponent, 45-20, en route to its fifth win of the season.
Budd, who finished her night with four goals on eight shots, netted the 100
th goal of her career in the first half and now owns 130 career points on 103 goals and 27 assists. The total is tied with Amy Horne (1982-85) and Rita Sweeney (1984-87) for the 14
th most points in program history. It also marked Budd's second consecutive standout performance against Lafayette, as she netted a career-high eight goals, including the game-winner with 45 seconds left, in RU's 16-15 victory over the Leopards last season in Easton, Pennsylvania.
"One hundred goals is a huge milestone, and she was ready for it tonight," said head coach
Melissa Lehman. "From that first drive she was ready to find the back of the net. We're so proud of her."
Naslonski produced a game-high six points on five goals and an assist, while Spilis earned her ninth consecutive multi-goal game with three goals to go along with a game-high 11 draw controls. Senior captain
Dakota Pastore (2), sophomore
Camryn Rogers (2) freshman
Jenna Byrne (2) and classmate
Janey Galski (1) also contributed to RU's highest goal output of the season.
RU held advantages in nearly every team category against the Leopards, which included its season-high 45 shots against 20 from Lafayette, a 20-12 advantage on the draw and 15 ground balls compared to 12 from the visitor. Rutgers also forced eight turnovers with two apiece from junior
Dana Pena and freshman
Ashley Campo. Pena also scooped corralled a career-high six draw controls on Tuesday.
"We started strong, which was part of our message heading into this game. We wanted to start from the first whistle with a lot of heart and a lot of energy," Lehman said. "They never quit and were riding really hard. We earned a ton of possessions which helped us set the tone. I think our defense did that from the start and caused a lot of pressure on Lafayette. The whole team just fed off of that."
RU never trailed against Lafayette, as goals from Spilis and Budd in the first two minutes of the game gave Rutgers a quick 2-0 lead. The Leopards countered with back-to-back goals and then found themselves down just 4-3 with 15 minutes in the first half, but RU dictated the pace of the rest of the period. Six Scarlet Knights contributed to a 7-2 scoring run before the break, as Naslonski's first of the half made it 11-5 in favor of the home team.
Lafayette scored the first goal out of the locker room, but Rutgers never took its foot off the pedal. Naslonski netted four goals in the second half and led by as much as 11 before the Leopards closed out the game with back-to-back goals for the 19-10 final.
Rutgers now enters Big Ten Conference play in its next time out, as it plays at No. 11 Maryland on Saturday in College Park. The noon matchup marks the first of four consecutive games against ranked opponents, as the Scarlet Knights also face No. 12 Michigan (March 20), No. 22 Penn State (March 26) and No. 6 Northwestern (April 3) during the stretch.
