PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 14 Rutgers women's lacrosse (13-3, 3-2) defeated RV Penn State (6-8, 0-5), 18-13, on Saturday in front of a season-high 1,252 fans at SHI Stadium. Five Scarlet Knights produced three or more goals – including a game-high five from
Cassidy Spilis – to secure the most wins for the program since the 1999 campaign.
RU honored nine student-athletes for Senior Day prior to the game –
Riley Ban,
Sarah Cedarstrand,
Marin Hartshorn,
Stephanie Kelly,
Taralyn Naslonski,
Caroline Perry,
Shannon Siebold,
Alexis Watson and
Linda Zamrowski.
"It meant a lot to all of us to get this win on Senior Day," Kelly said. "We preached family, heart and love going into this game, and I think that showed defensively, in the middle and on the attack. Those are the games we play our best in."
Plenty of records fell for RU in its triumph over the Nittany Lions, as the program tied a school record for the most home wins in a season at nine. Rutgers picked up its second consecutive win over Penn State in the all-time series and set the program standard for goals in season with 230 on the year.
Individually, Naslonski became the program's all-time goal scorer at 174, passing Heather Jones (1991-94) for the most in school history. With her three assists, Kelly set a program single-season record with 35 helpers on the year, as she passed Danielle Mascera (2012) for the honor.
Rutgers used efficiency on both sides of the field to secure its win over Penn State. The Scarlet Knights scored 18 goals on just 25 shots, while sophomore
Sophia Cardello countered PSU's 41 shots with a career-high 18 saves for her 11th win of the season. Spilis, Hartshorn, Naslonski and juniors
Jenna Byrne and
Ashley Campo all collected hat tricks.
"This team was fired up to play for one another and these seniors," said head coach
Melissa Lehman. "It was a great atmosphere today and I'm so proud of how we were able to pull out this win. They were a really athletic and fast team, but at the end of the day, our defense – anchored by
Sophia Cardello – put on a show and secured this win for us."
The game was even during the first 15 minutes of action. Penn State scored first before Hartshorn, Naslonski and Campo sparked a three-goal scoring run for a 3-1 lead. Both teams would trade scores before back-to-back PSU goals made it 5-5 after one.
The even play continued in the second quarter. Hartshorn netted two goals to open the quarter, while an unassisted strike from Naslonski provided RU with its largest lead of the half at 10-7 with seven to go before halftime. Penn State countered with two consecutive goals, which included a strike from Sydney Wolfington to make it 10-9 RU heading into the locker room.
Rutgers scored three straight goals out of halftime to take control of the game. The highlight of the game occurred during the run. Rookie
Madison Karpe scooped a save from Cardello and took it coast-to-coast, finding Naslonski at the 4:50 mark in the third quarter to make it 13-9 Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights allowed just one Penn State goal in the third as it entered the final stretch with a 15-10 lead.
RU put the game out of reach by outscoring the Nittany Lions, 4-3, in the fourth quarter. Spilis netted her fourth and fifth of the game, while scorers from Byrne and Kelly solidified a 18-13 final.
Up Next
Rutgers wraps up its regular season at RV Ohio State on Thursday, April 28. The game is slated for an 8 p.m. ET national broadcast on Big Ten Network.
Notes
- With its win over Penn State, Rutgers secured its most wins in a season since RU finished with 14 in 1999. The 1999 team was the first in program history to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
- Rutgers finished its home schedule with a 9-1 record, matching its nine home wins from the 1999 season.
- Rutgers set a team season record with 230 goals scored, surpassing the previous program standard of 220 from 1998.
- Taralyn Naslonski became the program's all-time leading goal scorer at 174 for her career. Already the program's all-time leading scorer with 247 career points, Naslonski needs 11 helpers to pass Denise Reed (1987-90) for the program's all-time assists lead.
- Naslonski leads the team with 71 points this season, good for second all-time at Rutgers in a single season. She is 13 points away from setting the single-season points record at Rutgers.
- With her three assists, Steph Kelly owns the program's single-season assist record at 35. With 296 career points, Kelly is just four away from 300 for her career.
- At 56 goals this spring, Cassidy Spilis tied Marilyn Reilly (1984) for the third-most in a single season. She needs just five more to set the single-season record.
- Sophia Cardello stopped a career-high 18 shots in the win over Penn State.
