No. 14 Rutgers women's lacrosse completes comeback to defeat Georgetown
The Rutgers women’s lacrosse team defeated Georgetown 17-16 on Saturday in a comeback victory. It is the program’s first win over the Hoyas (1-1, 0-0) since 1999 as the No. 14 Scarlet Knights (3-0, 0-0) are opening their season with a great record.
Rutgers had a slow start to the game, as it trailed 7-2 after the first quarter and 11-7 at the half. But at the first whistle of the third quarter, the Knights retaliated and reclaimed their position in the game.
Rutgers held Georgetown to 3 goals in the third quarter as the Knights closed the lead down to 3 to start the final quarter.
In the fourth quarter, graduate student attacker Stephanie Kelly assisted the game-tying goal, passing to sophomore attacker Kate Carolonza who tied the game at 15 with just 7:27 left.
Junior midfielder Cassidy Spilis later scored back-to-back goals and gave Rutgers the lead to secure its second road win of the season.
The Knights held the Hoyas to only 5 goals in the second half despite Georgetown winning draw controls 24-13 for the game. Rutgers’ second-half victory was partly due to a spike in forced turnovers with 11 in the half. The Knights’ steady ground-ball game nearly doubled the Hoyas.
"We spoke at halftime about how it is a long game and we just needed to take it one play at a time and never lose heart. We competed and played for one another and were able to secure the win,” said head coach Melissa Lehman after the game.
After the halftime break, Rutgers went on an 8-4 scoring run to end its deficit by the home stretch of the fourth period. Spilis had a team-high 4 goals while Kelly had a game-high 6 points to give Georgetown its first home loss of the season.
Sophomore goalkeeper Sophia Cardello contributed two saves, and freshman goalkeeper Caleigh Forti opened her career as a Knight with a save and only two allowed goals after the second half.
Graduate student attacker Taralyn Naslonski scored her third hat trick of the season in as many games, as she averages 4 goals per game to lead the team in scoring. She contributed another 3 points toward her possible 200-point career to become the fourth Rutgers player to achieve this feat.
With the win, Lehman has now started 3-0 in 2 of her first 3 seasons on the Banks.
The Knights will return home to take on Lehigh on Saturday at 1 p.m. and will be streamed on Big Ten Network+. Live stats will be provided on ScarletKnights.com at the start of the match.
For more updates on the Rutgers women's lacrosse team, follow @TargumSports on Twitter.
