COLUMBUS, Ohio. – No. 15 Rutgers women's lacrosse (14-3, 4-2) erased a three-goal deficit in the second half to defeat RV Ohio State (9-7, 2-4), 10-8, on Thursday night in Columbus. The victory solidified the Scarlet Knights as the No. 3 seed in next weekend's Big Ten Tournament – hosted from May 6-8 in Piscataway – and matched the program record for wins in a season at 14.
Down 7-4 with nine minutes left in the third quarter, Rutgers outscored the Buckeyes 6-1 in the final 24 minutes of play to collect its fourth consecutive win over Ohio State dating back to last season. Captains
Marin Hartshorn and
Cassidy Spilis both netted hat tricks in the victory to pace the Scarlet Knights' offense.
RU nows faces No. 2 seed Northwestern on Friday, May 6 to open the Big Ten Tournament. Tickets for the 2022 Big Ten Women's Lacrosse Tournament can be found
here.
With offense at a premium for both squads, RU relied on its defense and draw unit to give itself opportunities to score. Rutgers secured 11 draw controls and forced Ohio State into 15 turnovers, as junior defender
Meghan Ball led the team with three caused turnovers and seven 50-50 wins. Junior
Jessica Beneducci and rookie
Emalie Clothier each added two caused turnovers, while sophomore
Sophia Cardello added nine saves for her 12th win of the season.
"We spoke tonight about owning gritty stats and hustle points," said head coach
Melissa Lehman. "I was really proud of the team and their effort throughout the game. Towards the end, it seemed like all those loose balls went our way. We won possessions when we needed to and took advantage of opportunities when they were there."
Ohio State scored the first two goals of the game before graduate captain
Taralyn Naslonski converted her free-position attempt at the 10:10 mark in the first quarter to make it 2-1. The Buckeyes would add one more goal for a 3-1 lead after the first 15 minutes of play.
OSU scored again out of the first break, but RU answered thanks to Hartshorn, who took a pass from graduate student
Stephanie Kelly to bring the Scarlet Knights within two at 4-2 with 12 minutes to play in the quarter. Junior
Ashley Campo followed with her own score two minutes later and added an assist to classmate
Janey Galski with 5:56 left on the first-half clock to complete RU's scoring in the half. Ohio State would enter the locker room with a 6-4 lead.
It took four minutes into the third quarter for the first goal to be scored, as Chloe Johnson took a pass from Nicole Ferrara to make it 7-4 in favor of the Buckeyes. It was then where the Scarlet Knights began to chip away at the lead thanks to a 4-0 scoring run that stretched two quarters. Spilis and Hartshorn connected on back-to-back goals before the final break, as Hartshorn's player-up opportunity made it 7-6 Ohio State.
Cardello demonstrated why she is one of the top goalkeepers in the conference down the stretch in Columbus. The sophomore stopped a shot from Sophie Baez at the 12:31 mark, which set up the game-tying goal from Spilis on the free position attempt. Sophomore
Mikayla Dever then gave RU its first lead of the game at 8-7 with her own free position goal with nine minutes to play.
Ohio State would tie one final time before Spilis netted the game-winner off the pass from Dever on the player-up opportunity. Hartshorn's third goal of the night at the 1:13 mark added insurance, as RU left Ohio Stadium with its first Big Ten road win of 2022.
Up Next
Rutgers hosts the 2022 Big Ten Women's Lacrosse Tournament from May 6-8 in Piscataway.
