PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers women's lacrosse battled to the wire on Wednesday night against No. 7 Maryland before being edged late, 8-7. The Scarlet Knights led by as much as three goals and held the lead for over 30 minutes in the game, but were unable to pull out the victory. The Terps improved to 11-4 overall and 6-1 in league play. RU fell to 8-8 overall and 2-5 in Big Ten play. 

The statistics in the game were fairly even throughout. RU had a 28-26 advantage in shots, ground balls were even, and Maryland had a 10-9 margin in draw controls. Lexi Coldiron made 14 saves for RU, posting a save percentage of 63.6% in the game. Payton Tini and Alexa Corbin had two goals, while Kayleigh Coughlin, Delainey Sutley and Alex Popham scored one goal apiece.

Rutgers raced out of the gates to a 4-1 lead after 20 minutes of action. At halftime, the home squad led 4-2 behind seven first half saves from Lexi Coldiron.

In the third quarter, the Terps made a comeback. Capitalizing on a stretch where RU scored just one goal in a 32-minute span, the visitors turned a 4-1 deficit into their advantage at 7-5 with 11:41 to play after scoring three times in the first three minutes of the final quarter.

However, the Scarlet Knights did not relent. Alexa Corbin and Payton Tini scored goals just 52 seconds apart, tying the game at 7-7 with six minutes to play.

A minute later, it looked as though RU had scored the go-ahead goal, however, Alex Popham was issued a yellow card for a dangerous follow through, and the goal was waived off. Maryland took advantage of the opportunity, with Edmondson completing her fourth quarter hat trick with a free position goal at the 4:23 mark that ultimately stood up as the game-winner. RU took multiple attempts at an equalizer, including having the final possession of the game, but were unable to tie the score and fell by one.

The game marked the eighth matchup this season for RU facing a ranked team. Previously, the Scarlet Knights defeated No. 16 Stony Brook and No. 21 Ohio State. After opening the season at 7-3 through 10 games, RU has lost four of its past five games. 

Rutgers held Maryland to 8 goals, its second lowest total of the year. The Terps were held below their season-average of 12.54 goals per game. 

Rutgers will close the regular season on Saturday, facing No. 13 Michigan on Big Ten Network at 1 pm. RU has secured a spot in next week's Big Ten Tournament, which begins on April 23 in College Park, Maryland.