PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers women's lacrosse (0-1) faces Johns Hopkins (0-0) on Sunday in Baltimore, Maryland. The game is slated for a 1 p.m. ET start and will steam live via JHU's website.
• Rutgers opened its 2021 season last Sunday when it dropped a 20-11 matchup with No. 21 Penn State in University Park.
• The Scarlet Knights held the first lead of the game and trailed by just two goals at halftime before the Nittany Lions pulled away down the stretch.
• Sophomore
Cassidy Spilis produced a game-high four goals, including three in the second half, to go along with an assist for a team-high five points.
• Junior captain
Marin Hartshorn added two goals and an assist, while sophomore
Ashley Campo and rookie
Mikayla Dever collected two points apiece on a goal and an assist.
• Spilis demonstrated last Sunday why she is one of the best players in the Big Ten Conference when she produced a game-high five points on four assists and an assist against Penn State. Her four goals ranked No. 13 in the country, while her four caused turnovers are tied with several players for the top mark in the nation.
• Hartshorn corralled seven draw controls last Sunday, good for 11th in the country and third in the conference. Hartshorn now owns 54 draw controls for her career.
• With her goal last Sunday, senior
Taralyn Naslonski sits at 88 goals for her career. Naslonski is also No. 19 all-time in program history with 120 points, needing six points to surpass Kristina Dunphey on the list.
• Redshirt freshman
Grace Curran and rookies Dever,
Madison Grady and
Sophia Cardello made their varsity debuts in the season opener. Cardello came into the game midway through the first half and produced six saves.
• The Blue Jays were picked fifth in the Big Ten Conference poll after they finished 4-3 last season.
• Jeanne Kachris, Aurora Cordingley and Keegan Barger were selected as Big Ten Players to Watch. Cordingley is the team's leading returning scorer with 17 goals and 18 assists last spring before the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Janine Tucker enters her 28th year as head coach of the Blue Jays.
• Johns Hopkins leads the all-time series, 5-0. Rutgers dropped a 16-9 matchup with the Blue Jays in the teams' last meeting on March 23, 2019 in Baltimore.
• 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.
Rutgers returns home to host Ohio State for a two-game weekend series, with games scheduled for Friday, Feb. 26 (3 p.m.) and Sunday, Feb. 28 (Noon).
