PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 16 Rutgers women's lacrosse made history as it delivered the program's first ever NCAA Tournament victory with its 16-13 win over No. 10 Drexel on Friday in Stony Brook, New York. Down 7-6 at halftime, The Scarlet Knights outscored the Dragons 10-6 in the second half and held a 19-12 advantage on the draw to advance out of the opening round. RU will face No. 8 seed Stony Brook on Sunday for a chance to secure a trip to the NCAA Championship quarterfinals.
Friday marked the second ever NCAA Tournament game for Rutgers since it began playing women's lacrosse in 1977 and the first for the program since the 1999 season – a 22-year wait for the postseason. With its win over the No. 10 Dragons, the Scarlet Knights earned their highest ranked victory since they defeated No. 7 Princeton during the 2010 campaign.
"This team is so excited for what we were able to accomplish today," said head coach
Melissa Lehman, who led Rutgers to its historic victory in just her second year with the program. "They fought hard for 60 minutes and we're so proud to make history at Rutgers."
Senior captains
Hannah Hollingsworth and
Taralyn Naslonski paced RU's potent scoring attack with four goals apiece, while Naslonski added three helpers for a game-high seven points. Senior captain
Julia Lytle and sophomore
Hannah Hollingsworth added two goals each, as Rutgers outshot Drexel 22-10 in the second half and 37-31 on the game.
Sophomore defender and First Team All-Big Ten selection
Meghan Ball secured a program single-game record 13 draw controls, which included nine in the second half. Rookie goalkeeper
Sophia Cardello registered seven saves and Lytle led the team with three caused turnovers.
It was a back-and-forth first half, as Byrne came from behind cage to score the first goal of the day three minutes in. Drexel responded with back-to-back goals before Naslonski found Lytle two minutes later to tie it 2-2. Both teams would continue to trade leads before the Dragons' Cara Moreau tallied back-to-back goals 7-5 lead with 2:27 left in the half. Byrne cut into the lead right before the halftime buzzer with a free-position attempt, as Rutgers headed into the locker room trailing 7-6 – its fourth halftime deficit in a win this season.
"We've been in this position before, so we knew we had to come out strong in the second half in order to secure the win," Naslonski said."
They did that and more as the Scarlet Knights came out of halftime with a 5-1 scoring run – including back-to-back goals from Naslonski and a highlight-reel score off the draw from Ball. Ball's third goal of the season made it 11-8 in favor of RU with 20 minutes left to play.
Drexel responded with a goal, but Rutgers began to dictate the pace of the game thanks to its performance on the draw. The Scarlet Knights would increase their lead to four three times down the stretch, as sophomore
Cassidy Spilis' lone score made it a 16-12 game at the 4:40 mark in the game. The Dragons added one final tally before Rutgers left LaValle Stadium.
"We needed get possessions and work the ball around more on the attack in the second half," Lehman said. "Drexel was physical in the first half, so our team fought back in the second half, took chances and put goals in the back of the net."
Rutgers faces Stony Brook on Sunday, May 16 for a noon ET matchup on ESPN3.
