No. 14 Women's Lacrosse Hosts No. 13 Michigan Thursday Night on BTN

Thursday, March 31

Piscataway, N.J.

3 PM

Rutgers University

Michigan

No. 14 Women's Lacrosse Hosts No. 13 Michigan Thursday Night on BTN

Mar 29 | Women's Lacrosse

Live Stats Parking Registration

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 14 Rutgers women's lacrosse (9-1, 1-1) continues its three-game homestand against No. 13 Michigan (9-2, 1-1) on Thursday night in Piscataway. The 7 p.m. matchup is slated for a national broadcast on Big Ten Network, with Dean Linke and Mark Dixon on the call.

Admission to all 2022 home games is free. Parking for 2022 women's lacrosse home games is also free, but visitors must register their vehicle with the University through this link. Visitors only need to register their vehicle once for the entire season. Parking for 2022 home games is in the Scarlet Lot outside the West entrance of SHI Stadium.

Last Time Out

The Scarlet Knights completed a come-from-behind win over No. 20 Johns Hopkins, 12-11, last Saturday at SHI Stadium. Senior Marin Hartshorn found graduate student Taralyn Naslonski with six seconds left to help RU to its third win over a ranked opponent this season and first Big Ten Conference victory of the 2022 campaign.
Down by as much as four goals midway through the third quarter, Rutgers completed a 7-2 scoring run to get itself in position for the conference home win. With the score knotted at 11-11, Hartshorn held the ball at the top of the eight meter during the final possession. Hartshorn flipped behind to Naslonski, who came from right to left to receive the pass. The captain then beat three JHU defenders and goalkeeper Kathleen Garvey with her second goal of the night to propel RU to victory.
Junior Cassidy Spilis was dominant on the offensive attack for Rutgers with her game-high five goals, which included four in the second half. Naslonski and graduate student Stephanie Kelly each had four points on two goals and two assists, while Hartshorn dished out two assists in the win.

In the Rankings

Rutgers remained No. 13 in the Nike/USA Lacrosse Magazine Top 20 and moved back one spot to No. 14 in this week's ILWomen/IWLCA Coaches Poll. Five Big Ten programs - No. 3 Northwestern, No. 8 Maryland, No. 13 Michigan, No. 14 Rutgers and No. 20 Johns Hopkins - all appeared in the coaches poll this week, while Penn State received votes.

Naslonski Approaches All-Time Records

With 216 career points graduate student Taralyn Naslonski is tied with Katie Batiuk (2004-07) for second on RU's all-time list. Naslonski needs just 16 more points to tie Denise Reed (1987-90) for first on the all-time list. Naslonski is also third all time at Rutgers with 153 career goals and needs seven to tie Batiuk on the all-time list.

Career Points	Total
1. Denise Reed (1987-90)	232
T2. Katie Batiuk (2004-07)	216
T2. Taralyn Naslonski (2018-Present)	216

Career Goals	Total
1. Heather Jones (1991-94)	173
2. Katie Batiuk (2004-07)	160
3. Taralyn Naslonski (2018-Present)	*153*

Ball Approaches 150 Career Draw Controls

With 148 career draw controls, junior Meghan Ball is second all-time in the category at Rutgers and needs two to reach 150 for her career. Ball is fourth in the Big Ten and 38th nationally with her 5.30 draw-controls-per-game average.

Kelly Dishing with the Best of Them

Graduate student Stephanie Kelly leads the Big Ten and is third nationally with 28 assists in RU's first 10 games this season. Kelly - who leads the team with 44 points on 16 goals and 28 assists - has produced two or more assists in nine games this spring and has dished two assists in each of the Scarlet Knights' past three outings.

Scouting Michigan

Michigan enters Thursday night's game after it lost to No. 4 Northwestern, 12-9, last Saturday in Ann Arbor. UM forced the Wildcats into 14 turnovers and trailed just 9-8 after the third quarter before NU used a 3-1 scoring run in the final 15 minutes of the game to hold on to the win.
The Wolverines feature a balanced scoring attack as six players have produced 18 or more points this season. Caitlin Muir owns a team-high 27 points on 13 assists and 14 goals. Kaitlyn Mead and Kaley Thompson have contributed 20 goals apiece.
Michigan owns the top scoring defense in the Big Ten this season and is second in the NCAA with a 7.73 mark. Goalkeeper Arielle Weissman has produced a nation-best 7.16 goals-against average and a Big Ten-best .553 save percentage for the Wolverines.

Series vs. Michigan

Rutgers leads the all-time series with Michigan, 4-3, but the Wolverines have won the past three meetings. UM swept RU in back-to-back tight games last season in Ann Arbor, which included a 12-11 overtime win - Rutgers' only overtime game of the 2021 season.

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