Women's Lacrosse Faces Vermont Saturday

Saturday, April 15

Burlington, Vt.

Noon

Rutgers University

Vermont

Photo by: Ben Solomon

Apr 14 | Women's Lacrosse

Live Stats Stream: ESPN3 ($)

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Off one of the biggest wins in program history, Rutgers women's lacrosse (5-7, 0-5) heads north to face Vermont (5-6, 2-2) on Saturday in Burlington. First draw is set for noon from Virtue Field and will stream on ESPN3.

Last Time Out

The Scarlet Knights picked up their signature victory of the season, defeating No. 6 Stony Brook, 12-7, on Wednesday night at SHI Stadium. The win was the third over a top-10 opponent under head coach Melissa Lehman and the program's first regular season win over a top-six team in school history.
The victory avenged back-to-back loses to the Seawolves in the past two NCAA Tournaments and marked the first win over Stony Brook in the all-time series. RU allowed just two goals in the second half and muscled a 15-7 advantage on the draw to earn the marque win in Piscataway.
Junior goalkeeper Sophia Cardello registered 12 saves on the night and seven in the second half, as Rutgers held the Seawolves well below their 32 shots-per-game average with 23 attempts on cage. The Scarlet Knights converted an impressive 15-of-16 clear attempts and earned key possessions thanks to eight draw controls from senior Meghan Ball and six from classmate Cassidy Spilis.
Spilis (four goals, one assist), graduate student Marin Hartshorn (three goals) and rookie Ava Kane (three goals) all tallied hat tricks to pace RU on offense, while senior Jenna Byrne dished out three helpers to eclipse the 100-career point milestone.

What to Know

Saturday's matchup versus Vermont will be the program's eighth against a 2022 NCAA Tournament participant. The Catamounts went 14-5 last spring and won the 2022 American East Tournament title to advance to the postseason.
With 179 career goals, Cassidy Spilis is nine goals away from passing current volunteer assistant coach Taralyn Naslonski (2018-22) for the most in school history. Spilis leads the team with 34 goals this season and is fifth in the Big Ten with 2.83 goals scored per game.
With 186 career points, Spilis needs three to pass Elizabeth Chambers (1997-00) for firth all-time in points scored at Rutgers.
With 193 career points, Marin Hartshorn is seven points away from 200 for her career.
Senior defender Meghan Ball leads the country with 3.92 caused turnovers per game. The two-time IWLCA National Defensive Player of the Week and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week also leads the Big Ten ground balls per game (3.50) and is second in draw controls per game (6.50).
With 47 caused turnovers this season, Ball is eight away from resetting the program's single-season record in the category she established last year with 54.
Ball caused a team-high six turnovers last Thursday against the Northwestern - the 24th time in her career she has caused three or more turnovers in a game. Ball has caused three or more turnovers eight times this spring and five or more turnovers five times in 2023.
Graduate student Marin Hartshorn has provided a spark on offense for Rutgers over the past month, producing 31 points on 19 goals and 12 assists across RU's past eight games.
Senior Jessica Beneducci needs five ground balls for 100.

Statistical Leaders

Meghan Ball
- CTs-Per-Game: 3.92 (First B1G, First NCAA)
- GBs-Per-Game: 3.50 (First B1G, Eighth NCAA)
- DCs-Per-Game: 6.50 (Second B1G, 16th NCAA)
Cassidy Spilis
- Goals: 34 (Ninth B1G)
- Goals-Per-Game: 2.83 (Fifth B1G)
Jenna Byrne
- Assists: 17 (Fifth B1G)
- Assists-Per-Game: 1.42 (Fourth B1G)
Marin Hartshorn
- Assists: 16 (Eighth B1G)
- Assists-Per-Game: 1.33 (Sixth B1G)
- Points-Per-Game: 3.42 (Seventh B1G
Sophia Cardello
- Saves-Per-Game: 9.33 (Second B1G, 22nd NCAA)
- Save Percentage: .477 (Third B1G, 23rd NCAA)
- Saves: 112 (Third B1G, 29th NCAA)
- Goals Against Average: 10.66 (Fifth B1G, 32nd NCAA)

Scouting Vermont and Series History

The Catamounts enter Saturday with a 5-6 record and a 16-13 victory over New Hampshire last weekend in their last time out. Ava Vasile tallied a game-high seven points as Vermont rallied back from a fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Wildcats at Virtue Field.
Jane Trauger was named America East Rookie of the Week after she tallied four goals and an assist in the win over New Hampshire.
Defender Carolyn Carrera is second behind Ball nationally in caused turnovers-per-game with 3.55.
Vasile leads the team with 37 points on 31 goals and six helpers. Claire Adelhelm has dished out a team-best 19 assists.
Rutgers is tied with Vermont, 1-1, in the all-time series. The programs met in 1994 and 1995, with the Scarlet Knights defeating the Catamounts, 11-7, in their last matchup.

Up Next

Rutgers returns home for its final two games of the regular season, beginning Thursday, April 20 against Ohio State. The game is set for a 6 p.m. ET start with a national broadcast on Big Ten Network.