No. 13 Rutgers women's lacrosse defeats No. 20 Johns Hopkins on last-second goal
In a comeback effort, the Rutgers women’s lacrosse team defeated Johns Hopkins 12-11 over the weekend. The No. 13 Scarlet Knights (9-1, 1-1) recorded their third win over a ranked opponent this season with their offensive attack coming alive in the second half.
The No. 20 Blue Jays (5-5, 0-2) controlled the possession for most of the first quarter and held a 2-goal lead after the first 15 minutes. Rutgers came back to tie the game at 5-5 early in the second quarter just before Johns Hopkins scored back-to-back goals to regain its 2-goal lead going into halftime.
The Blue Jays' overall lead in the draw aided their efforts that evening as they had the help of Shelby Harrison. Harrison set a new record in draw controls for Johns Hopkins with a career total of 274. She had seven on the night.
The Blue Jays then added 2 more uncontested goals to give themselves a 4-goal cushion over the Knights with 8:24 in the third quarter.
Rutgers changed the game's pace after its largest deficit of the night, going on a 3-0 scoring run to close the third quarter. The Knights approached the end of the game with a 4-1 scoring run.
Tied at 11, senior attacker Marin Hartshorn held Rutgers' final possession with seconds left at the top of the 8-meter hash. She found graduate student attacker Taralyn Naslonski who barreled down the alley.
She netted her second goal of the evening, going past three Johns Hopkins defenders and keeper Kathleen Garvey to give the Knights their ninth victory of the season.
“Our offense was just working together and working the ball,” Naslonski said. “(Hartshorn) called for the flip, and I came off of it. That goal was all (Hartshorn). She set me up perfectly.”
After Naslonski’s game-winning goal, she sits second all-time in career points at Rutgers with 216. She’s 16 points behind the program record held by Denise Reed at 232.
Junior midfielder Cassidy Spilis propelled the offense with a game-high 5 goals, 4 of which came in the second half. Graduate student attacker Stephanie Kelly also had four points that night with two goals and assists, while Hartshorn had another assist in addition to her game-winning pass.
Sophomore midfielder Ashley Moynahan set the defensive precedent off the bench, contributing three caused turnovers, three draw controls and two ground balls off the bench. She also netted her third goal of the season off a Blue Jays turnover.
In their next game at SHI Stadium on Busch campus, the Knights will face off against No. 12 Michigan on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Big Ten Network will nationally broadcast the top-15 matchup and live stats will be provided at the first draw on ScarletKnights.com.
For more updates on the Rutgers women's lacrosse team, follow @TargumSports on Twitter.
