BALTIMORE – Rutgers women's lacrosse (8-8, 1-5) knocked off No. 16 Johns Hopkins (8-8, 4-2), 15-14, to advance in the Big Ten Tournament on Saturday in Baltimore. With the win, the Scarlet Knights will play No. 2 seed Maryland on Thursday at 6 p.m. on Big Ten Network in the conference semifinals, hosted in Columbus, Ohio.
 
Down as many as three goals against the Blue Jays and trailing 9-8 at halftime, RU outscored the Blue Jays 7-5 in the second half and held off a late JHU scoring rally to secure its third win over a ranked opponent this season. Senior Cassidy Spilis tallied a season-high seven points on five goals and two assists, surpassing current volunteer assistant Taralyn Naslonski for the most career goals in school history.
 
Spilis was one of three Scarlet Knights to secure five or more points, joining graduate student Marin Hartshorn (3G, 2A) and rookie Lily Dixon (2G, 3A). On defense, senior Meghan Ball caused a game-high four turnovers to go along with five draw controls and three ground balls, while junior goalkeeper Sophia Cardello stopped 11 shots for the win.
 
Ball secured the 300th draw control of her career and classmate Jessica Beneducci scooped the 100th ground ball of her career to help Rutgers to victory.

"I thought we came out in the third quarter with the mentality that we had to control the tempo down the stretch," said head coach Melissa Lehman. "We played cleaner in the second half, and it was awesome to see so many people step up an contribute to today's win."
 
It was a back-and-forth first half at Homewood field, as Dixon found a cutting Janey Galski for the first score of the game six minutes in. Johns Hopkins responded with three consecutive goals before Spilis netted her first of the game to stop the scoring run. Rutgers then scored back-to-back goals in a span of 10 seconds at the end of the quarter, with freshman Gianna Eglauf dishing to Dixon with six seconds left in the quarter. JHU would score at the buzzer to take a 6-4 lead after a wild opening 15 minutes of play.
 
Both teams did not let up in the second, as Hartshorn scored her second of the day in the first 15 seconds of the quarter. Both teams would trade scoring punches down the stretch, as Johns Hopkins would lead 9-6 with 7:42 left in the second quarter. Rutgers closed the quarter strong with back-to-back goals from Spilis and Hartshorn, as the Blue Jays entered the locker room with a 9-8 lead.
 
Ball was all over the field before the midpoint, registering five draw controls, three caused turnovers and two ground balls before the break. Cardello stopped four shots to help keep RU within one ahead of the third quarter.
 
It was all Rutgers on the offensive end out of the break, as the Scarlet Knights outscored the Blue Jays, 4-1, during the 15-minute stretch. RU had three different goal scorers during the run, which included the go-ahead score from junior Ashley Moynahan with 4:29 left in the third. Dixon and Spilis followed, as RU took a 12-10 lead into the fourth.
 
Rutgers would score three consecutive goals in the fourth quarter before Johns Hopkins responded with four goals in the final seven minutes of play. JHU's Jordan Carr tallied a goal to make it a one-goal game with 34 seconds to go, but Hartshorn secured a clutch draw control on the following possession to help Rutgers hold on to the win.
 
Up Next
Rutgers faces No. 2 seed Maryland on Thursday, May 4 at 6 p.m., with the game set for a national broadcast on Big Ten Network.