NASHVILLE, Tenn. – No. 17 Rutgers women's lacrosse (3-3, 0-1) lost to RV Penn State (5-2, 1-0), 9-7, on Saturday afternoon at the Vanderbilt Lacrosse Complex in Nashville, Tennessee. Down four goals in the fourth quarter, the Scarlet Knights rallied with three consecutive scores to end the game before the Nittany Lions were able to leave with the win.

Rookie Ava Kane produced the first hat trick of her career, leading RU with three goals. Graduate student Marin Hartshorn tallied four points on three assists and a score, while senior Ashley Campo, junior Kate Carolonza and junior Mikayla Dever all added goals in the loss.

Senior Meghan Ball secured a game-high nine draw controls along with two caused turnovers. Junior goalkeeper Sophia Cardello stopped eight shots, including the 300th of her career.

Rutgers closed the first quarter with a 2-1 lead thanks to back-to-back goals from Kane. Hartshorn found a cutting Kane with 13:53 in the opening stanza. After a PSU counter, Kane followed with an unassisted strike to give the Scarlet Knights a 2-1 advantage.

A goal from Carolonza would give RU its largest lead of the afternoon with 11:04 before halftime, but the Nittany Lions would begin to cut into Rutgers' advantage thanks to a 3-0 scoring run. Kara Nealon's solo goal at the 3:13 mark put Penn State up 4-3, a lead PSU would take into the locker room.

Penn State outscored Rutgers, 4-0, in the third quarter to take its biggest lead of the afternoon at 8-4. But the Scarlet Knights would chip away at their opponents lead. Dever found Hartshorn with 11:30 left to play, while goals from Kane and Dever made it just a 9-7 game with six minutes left in regulation. PSU would keep shots at a premium down the stretch and held on for the 9-7 win.

Up Next

• Rutgers faces Vanderbilt on Monday in Nashville. The game is set for a 1 p.m. ET start and will stream via ESPN+.