PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers women's lacrosse (8-4, 2-1) faces Penn State (4-7, 2-2) on Thursday night in University Park. First draw from Panzer Stadium is set for a 7 p.m. national broadcast on Big Ten Network, with Dean Linke and Izzy Scane on the call.
Winners of three of their last four games, the Scarlet Knights look to start 3-1 in Big Ten Conference play for the first time since the 2021 season.
- Rutgers picked up its second ranked win of the season, defeating No. 21 Ohio State, 12-8, on Sunday afternoon in Piscataway. The Scarlet Knights never trailed against the Buckeyes, forcing the visitors into 18 turnovers to secure their second Big Ten Conference victory of the season.
- Sunday was the second victory over a ranked opponent this spring after RU delivered an overtime victory over then-No. 16 Stony Brook, 12-11, earlier this month. Sunday's win over No. 21 OSU marked the 18th ranked win for the program under head coach Melissa Lehman dating back to 2021 and served as the fourth consecutive over the Buckeyes in the all-time series.
- Rutgers' defense shined against Ohio State, allowing just one goal in the first 30 minutes of action, as graduate student goalkeeper Lexie Coldiron tallied six saves for her eight win of the spring. Junior Lily Dixon (3), graduate student Lauren Messinese (2) and senior Alexa Corbin (2) all caused multiple turnovers against the Buckeyes, while junior Katie Buck muscled a game-high eight draw controls.
- Coldiron was named the IWLCA National Defensive Player of the Week and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week, announced Tuesday. The Pylesville, Maryland, native anchored a Rutgers defense that allowed just eight goals and forced 18 turnovers in a 12-8 victory over then-No. 21 Ohio State on Sunday, securing six saves in the ranked win.
- Coldiron is the first IWLCA National Defensive Player of the Week winner for the program since 2023. Coldiron also earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week for the first time, becoming the first since Sophia Cardello earned weekly conference recognition in 2023.
- Coldiron picked up the 600th save and 150th ground ball of her career in the win over the Buckeyes.
- Second nationally in saves, Coldiron was recently added to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List and was named a Midseason All-American by Inside Lacrosse/ILWomen.
- Four of RU's final five regular season games will appear on Big Ten Network.
- Thurs., April 3 at Penn State (7 p.m.)
- Thurs., April 10 vs. USC (8 p.m.)
- Wed., April 16 vs. Maryland (6 p.m.)
- Sun., April 19 at Michigan (1 p.m.)
- Including last week's matchup at Johns Hopkins on ESPNU, Rutgers' five regular season televised games are the most since joining the conference in 2014-15.
- Thanks to its victory over Ohio State, Rutgers checks in at No. 25 in the latest RPI, released Monday.
- The Scarlet Knights own three victories over the RPI Top 40 (No. 20 Stony Brook, No. 27 Ohio State & No. 38 Delaware).
- RU's final four games of the regular season come against opponents in the RPI Top 25 (No. 6 Northwestern, No. 16 Maryland, No. 21 Michigan and No. 23 USC).
- Coldiron is second in the country in saves (123) and leads conference and 14th nationally with 10.25 saves per game. Coldiron is also third in the Big Ten and eighth nationally with a .517 save percentage.
- Among active career leaders, Coldiron is second in saves per game (9.90), second in saves (604) and fifth in ground balls (150).
- Junior Katie Buck is fourth in the conference and 20th nationally with 7.25 draw controls per game. Her 87 draw controls rank third in the Big Ten, as she needs just 13 draw controls to become the 11th player in program history to hit 100 for her career.
- Junior Lily Dixon is seventh in the conference with 45 points and third with 29 assists. Dixon is just 11 assists away from setting the program's all-time single-season record.
- Senior Madison Karpe is five ground balls away from 100 for her career.
- Rookies have had an immediate impact for the Scarlet Knights this season. Delainey Sutley was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week earlier this season and is tied for the team lead with 16 goals. Hilary Elsner (14 goals) and Caroline Ling (nine goals) have also contributed meaningful scoring. Charlee Thomas has started all 12 games on defense, while Bianca Chiarella is second on the team with 11 caused turnovers. Freshman Sienna Cassella has appeared in 11 games, including two starts in the midfield.
- The Nittany Lions enter Thursday off their 13-12 overtime victory at No. 10 Michigan on Sunday in Ann Arbor. Erika Ho scored five goals against the Wolverines, including the golden goal in overtime for the ranked road win.
- Penn State is 4-7 this season but 2-2 in Big Ten play, owning conference wins over Michigan and Oregon.
- Ho is the team's leading scorer, ranking fifth in the conference with 33 goals this season. She has scored three or more goals in each of PSU's past three games.
- Penn State leads the all-time series, 24-2, winning the past three matchups. Three of Rutgers' past five games with the Nittany Lions have been decided by two goals or less.
- Both teams met in last season's Big Ten Tournament semifinal, a 17-8 victory for Penn State.
- ding a 13-11 victory for the Scarlet Knights over the Buckeyes last season in Columbus.
- Rutgers hosts No. 3 Northwestern on Sunday, April 6 in Piscataway. First draw from SHI Stadium is set for 1 p.m. and will stream on Big Ten Plus.
- Sunday serves as Senior Day, with Makenna Boutin, Lexie Coldiron, Emalie Clothier, Alexa Corbin, Victoria Goldrick, Madison Karpe, Kelsey Klein, Lauren Messinese, Tori Shenk and Michelle Warren all set to be recognized pregame.
