COLLEGE PARK, Md. – No. 6 seed Rutgers women's lacrosse (8-9, 1-5) delivered one of its biggest wins in program history, defeating No. 3 seed Maryland (12-5, 4-2), 9-8, to advance in the Big Ten Tournament on Saturday afternoon in College Park. With the victory, the Scarlet Knights will play No. 2 seed Penn State on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network in the conference semifinals, hosted by Northwestern in Evanston, Illinois.
Down 7-6 early in the fourth quarter, the Scarlet Knights tallied a 3-1 scoring run in the final 12 minutes to secure its spot in the conference semifinals. Senior goalkeeper
Sophia Cardello produced a season-high 15 saves to keep RU in the game throughout, which included three stops in the final 15 minutes of play and the game-sealing save during Maryland's final possession to secure the win.
"Cardello was unbelievable tonight," said head coach
Melissa Lehman. "She will compete and do whatever its takes for this team. She was locked in all week during practice, and she rises to the occasion in our biggest games. It was amazing to watch her in cage tonight."
The victory avenged a loss to the Terrapins – who entered Saturday's rematch No. 7 in the latest IWLCA Coaches Poll - from earlier in the season and marked just the second over UMD in the all-time series.
"Our team was so confident with our game plan and played hard for 60 minutes," Lehman said. "Our defense absolutely locked it down today and we had each other's back. This team has worked so hard for this type of win. They have worked so hard all season and it's awesome to see us jelling at the right time.
The win secures RU's spot in the conference semifinals for the fourth consecutive season and represented its second-straight win over a top-three seed in the Big Ten Tournament after it defeated No. 3 seed Johns Hopkins last season in Baltimore. Rutgers has now registered a top-10 victory in each of the past four seasons under Lehman.
Graduate student
Cassidy Spilis stuffed the stat sheet with four goals, three caused turnovers, three ground balls and two draw controls, eclipsing 70 goals on the season. Sophomore
Lily Dixon tallied four points on three helpers and a goal, while rookie
Payton Tini contributed two goals in the win.
Senior
Mikayla Dever and sophomore
Ava Kane also added goals, with Kane's coming at 8:25 mark in the fourth quarter off a pass from Dixon to serve as the game winner.
Rutgers muscled an impressive first quarter, outscoring the Terrapins 4-1 in the first 15 minutes of play. Spilis scored a hat trick in the opening period, with her third score giving Rutgers a 4-1 lead heading into the second quarter. Cardello stopped six shots in the first quarter during the impressive defensive series.
Maryland scored twice out of the first break before Dever finished a free position attempt with 6:20 left to extend RU's lead to 5-3. The score would hold steady for the next six minutes as Rutgers took a two-goal lead into halftime.
The Terrapins tied the score out of the locker room thanks to back-to-back scores, but the Scarlet Knights settled in thanks to Spilis' fourth of the night. UMD tallied a response late, as both teams sat tied 6-6 heading into the fourth quarter.
Maryland took its first and only lead of the night thanks Victoria Hensh, who took a feed from Chriss Thomas for a 7-6 lead with 12:19 left in the game. But the Scarlet Knights used three different goals scorers to take back control. Tini registered an unassisted goal, Dixon found Kane from behind cage at the 8:25 mark, while Dixon scored with 2:53 left to make it 9-7 Rutgers.
The Terrapins added a quick response 39 seconds later for a one-goal deficit and had a chance to tie it in the closing seconds before Cardello stopped a fast-break attempt to seal the win.
Up Next
Rutgers faces No. 2 seed Penn State on Thursday, May 2 in Evanston, Illinois. First draw for the Big Ten Semifinal is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET on Big Ten Plus.
