PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers women's lacrosse begins its 2021 season on Sunday, Feb. 14 at No. 21 Penn State. The game is slated for a 1 p.m. ET start at PSU's indoor Holuba Hall practice facility.
What's Different for 2021?
• The Scarlet Knights will play a 12-game, Big Ten Conference-only schedule over the next 10 weeks. RU's campaign features six home games and six on the road, which includes matchups with preseason No. 5 Northwestern, No. 7 Maryland, No. 9 Michigan and the No. 21 Nittany Lions.
• Rutgers' six scheduled home games include weekend series with Ohio State (Feb. 26 & 28) and No. 5 Northwestern (March 19 & 21), and return trips for No. 21 Penn State (April 15) and No. 7 Maryland (April 18).
• In accordance with the state of New Jersey's current restrictions on indoor gatherings due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no fans will be permitted to attend games at SHI Stadium to begin the 2021 season.
What to Know
• Rutgers returns eight of its top 11 goal scorers from last year's team that went 5-4 under first year head coach
Melissa Lehman. Lehman's first year included the program's first 4-0 start in 10 seasons, as last year's schedule was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• RU's returning scorers include sophomore
Cassidy Spilis and senior
Taralyn Naslonski, who produced 26 and 24 goals, respectively, in 2020. Double-digit point scorers
Jenna Byrne (10A, 8G) and
Marin Hartshorn (15A, 5G) also return.
• The Scarlet Knights bring back starting goalkeeper
Alonna Gliksman, who produced 84 saves and an 11.49 goals-against-average in nine games last spring.
Meghan Ball, who produced a team-high 22 ground balls and 13 caused turnovers, also bolsters RU's defense.
• Hartshorn, Naslonski and Spilis were named 2021 Big Ten Preseason Players to Watch. Rutgers will have five captains this season – Hartshorn, Naslonski,
Hannah Hollingsworth, Julia Lytle and
Dana Pena.
Scouting Penn State
• Penn State went 5-2 last spring before the season's cancellation.
• The NIttany Lions return 26 members from the 2020 squad. Penn State also welcomed nine freshmen who made up Inside Lacrosse's top 2020 recruiting class in the nation.
• Maria Auth, Olivia Dirks and Taylor Suplee were all recognized by the conference. Auth has produced 180 career points during her time in Happy Valley.
• Suplee, an honorable mention Preseason All-America selection by Inside Lacrosse, helped Penn State to rank fourth in the country and lead the Big Ten with a .531 save percentage in 2020. She ranked second in the nation in saves per game (12.43), fifth in saves (87) and seventh in save percentage (.527).
Series History
• Penn State leads the all-time series with Rutgers, 20-0.
Up Next
Rutgers remains on the road at Johns Hopkins on Sunday, Feb. 21 in Baltimore.
