No. 13 Women's Lacrosse loses to No. 3 Maryland in Big Ten Final

Sunday, May 8

Piscataway, N.J.

Noon ET

Rutgers University

15-4, 4-2

Maryland

17-1, 6-0

Rutgers

Maryland

Photo by: Dustin Satloff

No. 13 Women's Lacrosse loses to No. 3 Maryland in Big Ten Final

May 08 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score Box Score

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 13 Rutgers women's lacrosse (15-4, 4-2) lost to No. 3 Maryland (17-1, 6-0), 18-8, in Sunday's Big Ten Tournament Final at SHI Stadium. Tied 7-7 at halftime, the No. 1 seeded Terrapins outscored the Scarlet Knights 11-1 in the the final 30 minutes of play to secure their fourth Big Ten Conference title.

The loss capped an historic run for RU at the Big Ten Tournament, as it secured its first trip to the conference final with its 13-5 victory over No. 4 Northwestern on Friday in Piscataway. The win over the Wildcats was the program's first over a top-5 team in school history and the first over NU - the reigning Big Ten Tournament Champions - in 16 chances. Rutgers' win on Friday also set a program record for wins in a season at 15.

Four Scarlet Knights - Juniors Meghan Ball, Jessica Beneducci, Cassidy Spilis and sophomore Sophia Cardello - were named to the all-tournament team. It marked the second consecutive appearance on the team for Spilis.

"I'm so proud of the history this team made this weekend and this season," said head coach Melissa Lehman. "Maryland came out strong in the second half and we got caught up a bit. We weren't getting many draw controls, so when you're in those positions against such a potent offense, you have to get the ball off the draw. That hurt us early on."

UMD secured the win thanks to a 20-9 advantage on the draw and 40 shots to RU's 21. Graduate student Taralyn Naslonski and senior Marin Hartshorn tallied three points apiece in the loss. Ball caused two turnovers, scooped two ground balls and collected two draw controls, while Cardello stopped eight Maryland shots in cage.

The matchup was a back-and-forth affair in the first 30 minutes, as Rutgers erased a 3-1 Maryland lead with a 4-0 scoring run midway through the first half. Hartshorn, Naslonski, junior Ashley Campo and sophomore Ashley Moynahan all scored during the run, with Campo's goal off an assist from Hartshorn providing the Scarlet Knights with a 5-3 lead at the 13:37 mark in the second quarter.

Both teams traded goals as the quarter continued, with Spilis lone goal of the day putting RU on top 7-5 with 6:33 to go before the break. However, Maryland would score back-to-back goals in the final five minutes of the quarter to make it 7-7 at halftime.

It was all Maryland in the second half, as it shutout the Scarlet Knights in the third quarter to take a 15-7 lead. Maryland would close the game with three more goals in the final 15 minutes for the win.

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With a No. 7 RPI and wins over five ranked opponents, Rutgers awaits to hear its named called during the 2022 NCAA Tournament Selection Show at 9 p.m. ET on ESPNU.