PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 24 Rutgers women's lacrosse (3-0) delivered an 11-7 win over Monmouth (2-1) on Wednesday night at SHI Stadium. The victory moved the Scarlet Knights to 3-0 for the fourth time in five seasons under head coach Melissa Lehman.
 
RU's defense shut out the Hawks in the first half, allowed just 14 shots on goal and forced the visitors into 23 turnovers. Senior goalkeeper Sophia Cardello notched the 30th win of her career with seven saves.
 
Four Scarlet Knights - graduate student Cassidy Spilis, sophomore Lily Dixon and rookies Reese Robinson and Payton Tini – all tallied multiple goals in the win, with Tini adding an assist for a career-high three points. With her two goals, Spilis moved past Katie Batiuk for third in program history with 217 career points.
 
"I was really impressed with our defensive tonight holding Monmouth to zero goals in the first half," Lehman said. "I think that we were pressing, causing a lot of turnovers, and taking away a lot of what their game plan was. I was very happy with our whole unit. It was exciting to see some young players get on the board and get some points."
 
Only one goal was scored in the first 15 minutes of play, as Spilis found the back of the cage on a free position attempt with 8:54 left in the quarter. Cardello stopped four shots before the first break, as RU held a 1-0 lead heading into the second.
 
The Scarlet Knights began to find its rhythm before halftime. Rookie Payton Tink scored an unassisted goal in the first minute of the second quarter, Kimberly Greenblatt found rookie Reese Robinson three minutes later, while Dixon weaved Rutgers to a 4-0 lead on the visitor with 8:54 left. RU's defense held Monmouth off the board heading into the locker room.
 
Rutgers continued to attack out of halftime, with Dixon netting an unassisted goal at the 13:58 mark in the third quarter. Victoria Goldrick followed before Monmouth got on the board for the first time, as Rutgers held a 6-1 lead with 12:50 left in the third. The Hawks added two more goals down the stretch in the quarter to cut their deficit to 8-3 with 15 left to play.
 
Monmouth added two consecutive goals before Robinson stopped the visitors' scoring run with her second of the night to put RU up, 9-5. Both teams traded scores down the stretch, but Rutgers would hold on for the out-of-conference victory.
 
Up Next
Rutgers hosts Army on Saturday, February 24 at 1 p.m. in Piscataway.