No. 8 Women’s Lacrosse Faces Monmouth Wednesday in West Long Branch

Wednesday, February 15

West Long Branch, N.J.

2 PM

Rutgers University

Monmouth

No. 8 Women’s Lacrosse Faces Monmouth Wednesday in West Long Branch

Feb 14 | Women's Lacrosse

Live Stream Live Stats

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers women's lacrosse (1-0) heads down the shore to face Monmouth (1-0) on Wednesday in West Long Branch. First draw is set for 2 p.m. at Kessler Stadium, with the in-state matchup broadcast via LacrosseTV.

Last Time Out

Down two goals in the fourth quarter, the Scarlet Knights used a 4-0 scoring run in the final 12 minutes of play to earn a come-from-behind 9-7 win at No. 19 Jacksonville on Sunday at Rock Stadium. Marin Hartshorn tied the game with a unassisted goal, while Jenna Byrne found a cutting Kate Carolonza with 7:20 left on the clock for the eventual game-winning score.

Big Game from Ball

Senior Meghan Ball anchored RU's defense that allowed just seven goals to the ranked Dolphins, finishing the game with 10 draw controls, five ground balls and four caused turnovers. It marked the 17th time in her career Ball caused three or more turnovers in a game.

Steady in the Rankings

Rutgers remained steady in the national rankings after its ranked win on the road. The Scarlet Knights are No. 7 by USA Lacrosse Magazine and No. 8 in the ILWomen/IWLCA poll. The rankings in each respective poll remain the highest for the program in school history.

Program Records to Watch

Ball needs two caused turnovers to reach 100 for her career. She will become just the second Scarlet Knight to hit the century mark for career caused turnovers, joining program leader Kristen Checksfeld (109).
Ball is 13 draw controls away from surpassing Cathy Pecha (1982-83) for the most in program history. Pecha owns the program mark with 229.
Senior Cassidy Spilis is four goals away from 150 for her career.

Ranked Road Ahead

No. 19 Jacksonville is one 11 teams on this year's schedule either ranked or receiving votes in the latest IWLCA Coaches Poll. The list includes No. 2 Maryland, No. 5 Northwestern, No. 6 Stony Brook, No. 12 James Madison, No. 16 Princeton, No. 17 Michigan, No. 18 Johns Hopkins, No. 19 Jacksonville, No. 25 Vanderbilt, RV Ohio State and RV Penn State.
The win over No. 19 Jacksonville marked the 13th victory over a ranked opponent over the past three seasons under head coach Melissa Lehman.

Scouting Monmouth & Series History

The Hawks enter Wednesday after they opened their season with a 18-9 win over George Mason on Sunday in West Long Branch. Shea Berigan was named CAA Rookie of the Week after she produced four goals in the win.
Monmouth finished 12-7 last season, including a 6-2 record in CAA action.
Caroline Brennan, Cassidy Orban and Brianna Falco were named Preseason All-CAA ahead of 2023.
Rutgers is 15-3 all-time against Monmouth, winning four of the five past meetings. The series dates back to the 1996 season.
The Scarlet Knights won last year's matchup, 19-8, on March 2, 2022 in Piscataway. Spilis produced a game-high five goals in the win, as RU had nine different goal scorers in the game.
A native of Oceanport, Lehman attended Shore Regional - just 2.5 miles away from Kessler Stadium.

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