EVANSTON, Ill. – Graduate student
Taralyn Naslonski set the program scoring record for No. 15 Rutgers women's lacrosse (10-3, 2-2) in its tough 21-13 loss to No. 3 Northwestern (11-2, 4-0) on Thursday night in Evanston, Illinois. Naslonski found junior
Jenna Byrne with 11:28 to go in the second quarter to pass Denise Reed (1987-90) for first on the Scarlet Knights' all-time scoring list with 233 points during her historic career "On the Banks." Naslonski now sits first on the team's all-time scoring list with 235 points on 165 goals and 70 assists.
RU went toe-to-toe with the Wildcats for most of the game and drew to within one midway through the third quarter before NU secured the win with an 8-1 scoring run in the final quarter and a half of play. The teams combined for 73 shots on the night, as Naslonski finished with a team-high six points on four goals and two assists.
Junior captain
Cassidy Spilis added her team-best 10th hat trick of the season with her three goals against the Wildcats. Byrne and senior Marin captain
Marin Hartshorn each added three points, while graduate student
Stephanie Kelly dished out two helpers.
Junior defender
Meghan Ball once again filled the stat sheet with her team-high six ground balls, five caused turnovers and five draw controls. Junior
Ashley Campo and rookie
Madison Karpe both caused two turnovers. Between the pipes, sophomore
Sophia Cardello stopped 10 shots.
Northwestern jumped out to an early 3-0 lead during the game's first four minutes, as Erin Coykendall found Jill Girardi to put NU up 3-0. Naslonski broke the Wildcat's scoring run with a free position goal to settle RU down on the offensive end. Rutgers would add three more tallies in the first quarter before NU closed the period with an 8-4 lead.
Rutgers was extremely efficient on the offensive side of the field in the second quarter, as it scored five goals on five shots before halftime. Naslonski found Hartshorn and Byrne on back-to-back possessions to cut into Northwestern's lead, with the assist to Byrne setting the program scoring mark at 234.
The Scarlet Knights would get to within one before halftime thanks to goals from Campo, Hartshorn and sophomore
Ashley Moynahan. A quick goal before the halftime buzzer from Lauren Gilbert provided NU with a 11-9 lead heading into the locker room.
A highlight pass from Byrne to Spilis in the first minute of the second half got Rutgers back within one. Both teams went back and forth before the third-quarter media timeout. Hartshorn flipped to Spilis with five minutes to go in the third to make it a 13-12 game. However, Northwestern closed the game with an 8-1 scoring run, as Gilbert finished with a career-high eight goals.
Rutgers returns to action Wednesday, April 13 for a 6 p.m. matchup with Wagner at SHI Stadium.
