PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers women's lacrosse received votes in the 2024 ILWomen/IWLCA Division I Preseason Poll. It marks the third year the Scarlet Knights will begin their season either ranked or receiving votes in the initial coaches ranking.
 
Five Big Ten Conference programs are ranked to begin the 2024 campaign, including No. 1 Northwestern, No. 9 Maryland, No. 12 Michigan, No. 14 Johns Hopkins and No. 18 Penn State. In total, RU faces seven preseason ranked opponents this season along with No. 11 Stony Brook and No. 15 Army. Out-of-conference 2024 opponents Princeton and Yale also received votes in the preseason poll.

Rutgers returns six of its top nine scorers from a season ago, including preseason All-American Cassidy Spilis, who has tallied 202 points and 192 goals during her standout career 'On the Banks.' Spilis is one of two fifth-year student-athletes set to play for the Scarlet Knights this spring along with All-Big Ten defender Jessica Beneducci, who has started 63 career games and has scooped up 100 career ground balls. RU also returns senior goalkeeper Sophia Cardello, who has appeared in 50 career games between the pipes and finished second in the conference with 9.06 savers per game last season.
 
Playing one of the toughest schedules in the country under head coach Melissa Lehman, Rutgers finished with eight victories and its third consecutive Big Ten Tournament Semifinal appearance last spring. The Scarlet Knights picked up wins against three ranked opponents – No. 6 Stony Brook, No. 16 Johns Hopkins, and No. 19 Jacksonville – and closed the season receiving votes in the final IWLCA Coaches Poll.