PHILADELPHIA – No. 13 Rutgers women's lacrosse (7-0) muscled a road win at No. 18 Temple (5-2), 15-9, on Wednesday night in Philadelphia. The victory continues the Scarlet Knights' best start to a season in their history and marks their first win over a ranked opponent during the 2022 campaign.
 
Graduate student Stephanie Kelly dished out a season-best six assists against the Owls, while classmate Taralyn Naslonski added a team-high five goals in the win. Senior Marin Hartshorn, juniors Jenna Byrne and Cassidy Spilis and sophomore Kate Carolonza each had two goals apiece, with Spilis two scorers giving her 100 for her career.

With her five-goal outing, Naslonski passed Heather Jones (206; 1991-94) for third all-time in points at Rutgers with 207.
 
Junior Meghan Ball – the Big Ten Conference's reigning two-time Defensive Player of the Week – secured six draw controls and added two caused turnovers. Junior Ashley Campo and sophomore Ashley Moynahan also added two caused turnovers, and sophomore Sophia Cardello stopped six shots for her sixth win of the season.

"We spoke before the game about how tonight was going to be a battle," said head coach Melissa Lehman. "The team who was gritter and would be able to take advantage of the 50-50 wins was going to take it I felt we controlled the middle of the game and locked it down defensively. I'm just really proud of the way this team continues to fight."
 
Temple jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the 12 minutes of the game before Rutgers settled down with four consecutive goals. Byrne kicked started the 4-0 run to end the half off a pass from Kelly, while Hartshorn, Campo and Carolonza all found the back of the cage to give RU a 5-3 lead after the first 15 minutes of play.
 
The Owls added a goal out of the first break before the Scarlet Knights closed the half with five consecutive goals. Naslonski netted a hat trick in a five-minute span, with her third at the two-minute mark in the half providing a 10-5 lead at halftime.
 
Rutgers held Temple off the board out of the locker room, as Byrne, Hartshorn and Naslonski all scored during the third stanza. Temple would fight back late in the fourth quarter, but the damage done prior to the final quarter was enough to lift Rutgers to its biggest win of the season.
 
The Scarlet Knights remain on the road when they play at No. 21 James Madison on Saturday, March 12 in Harrisonburg, Virginia.