PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Women's lacrosse (5-5, 0-3) continues its tough road stretch with No. 2 Northwestern (9-2, 1-1) on Saturday in Evanston, Illinois. First draw is set for 6 p.m. ET and will broadcast nationally on Big Ten Network, with Dean Linke and Caley Chelios on the call.
Saturday's matchup against the Wildcats continues a two-game road swing against the top two opponents in the country, as the Scarlet Knights also played then-No. 2 Maryland on Sunday in College Park. With Michigan ranked No. 3 in this week's IWLCA Coaches' Poll, RU will have faced the top three teams nationally by the end of the month.
- RU lost to No. 2 Maryland on Sunday afternoon in College Park. The Scarlet Knights cut the Terrapins lead to just two early in the fourth quarter before the home team closed the game with a 3-0 scoring run for the win.
- Graduate student Cassidy Spilis netted a team-high five goals to go over 40 in a season for the fourth consecutive year. Now with 246 career points, Spilis needs just 21 to pass current assistant coach Taralyn Naslonski for the most in school history.
- Junior Michelle Warren, sophomore Ava Kane and rookie Payton Tini all added goals, while junior Emalie Clothier and sophomore Lily Dixon each dished out an assist to help pace the offense with Spilis. Senior goalkeeper Sophia Cardello stopped 10 shots in the loss for her fifth double-digit save outing of the season.
- Rutgers is in the midst of playing six ranked foes in a span of seven games. The stretch includes matchups with four opponents within the top 10 and back-to-back road games against the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country.
- Thursday, March 14 vs. No. 6 Michigan
- Sunday, March 17 vs. No. 16 Yale
- Sunday, March 24 at No. 2 Maryland
- Saturday, March 30 at. No. 1 Northwestern
- Saturday, April 6 vs. No. 10 Johns Hopkins
- Sunday, April 9 at No. 14 Stony Brook
- Spilis is second in the Big Ten and ninth nationally this season with 41 goals, having scored five or more goals six times in 2024. Spilis is also second in the conference in goals per game (4.10), fourth in draw controls per game (5.60), fifth in points per game (4.40) and sixth in points (44).
- Spilis needs 21 points to secure the most points in program history. Naslonski owns the record with 266 points from 2018-22).
- Spilis is the program's all-time leader in goals scored with 233 and only trails Northwestern's Izzy Scane (337) and James Madison's Isavella Peterson (262) among active career leaders nationally.
- After missing her first two seasons due to injury, junior Victoria Goldrick has been a standout for the Scarlet Knights with 25 points on a team-high 18 assists and seven goals in 2024. Her 18 assists are fourth in the Big Ten and 36th nationally this season.
- Goalkeeper Sophia Cardello ranks fourth in the Big Ten in GAA. (10.01) and save percentage (.464) and is fifth in saves (85) and saves per game (8.50). Cardello needs just 13 saves to become just the sixth goalkeeper in program history to secure 500 or more stops in a career 'On the Banks.'
- The Wildcats enter Saturday with a No. 2 ranking and a 9-2 record, defeating No. 13 North Carolina, 16-10, on Monday in Chapel Hill in their last time out.
- Northwestern leads the Big Ten and is fourth nationally in scoring offense, averaging 17.36 goals per game. Izzy Scane leads the country with 49 goals this season, while teammate Madison Taylor is 11th nationally with 40. Erin Coykendall is seventh in the country with 31 assists.
- The Wildcats lead the all-time series with Rutgers, 17-1, which includes a 16-6 win for Northwestern last season in Piscataway. The Scarlet Knights defeated NU for the first time in program history two seasons ago when they earned a 13-5 win to advance to the Big Ten final at SHI Stadium.
- Rutgers returns home to host Hofstra on Wednesday, April 3 in Piscataway. First draw from SHI Stadium is set for 6 p.m. and will stream on Big Ten Plus.
