No. 14 Rutgers women's lacrosse faces in-state rival Monmouth
The Rutgers women’s lacrosse team will stay home this week, hosting Monmouth today. The No. 14 Scarlet Knights (4-0, 0-0) remain ranked for the second week in a row. Rutgers is 1 of 3 teams in the Big Ten to remain undefeated this season alongside No. 4 Maryland and No. 8 Michigan.
Five conference programs, including the Knights, are ranked after the first two weeks of the season.
Rutgers coasted past Lehigh in a 17-6 victory in their last time out. After taking an early 8-1 lead in the first quarter, the Knights continued their dominance over the rest of the game, outscoring the Mountain Hawks (0-2, 0-0) in 3 out of 4 quarters.
Rutgers was strong on the defensive end, causing 15 of Lehigh's 19 turnovers. Sophomore goalkeeper Sophia Cardello saved a season-high 12 shots on goal (SOG) and only allowed 2 goals in the second half.
The win was secured in part from graduate student attacker Taralyn Naslonski and junior midfielder Cassidy Spilis who were tied for a game-high of 5 goals.
The Knights have held their opponents to less than 10 goals for the third time this season. Third-year head coach Melissa Lehman has repeated her 2020 start, going 4-0 to open 2022.
The Hawks (2-0, 0-0) are also coming off a win, defeating LIU 12-11 in a comeback on the road. Monmouth went on a 7-1 run after the half. After scoring another 4 goals in the fourth quarter, the Hawks had enough of a buffer to assure their win.
“We took an important step in our growth today as we head into the next several weeks of very competitive non-conference games," said head coach Jordan Trautman.
The series record between the two teams sits at 14-3 in favor of Rutgers, with Monmouth winning the last matchup in 2020.
The Hawks are more accurate than the Knights with a higher (SOG) percentage, but both teams average 16.5 goals per game.
Rutgers will hope to keep its win streak alive tomorrow against Monmouth at 5 p.m. at SHI Stadium on Busch campus. Live stats will be provided at the start of the game at ScarletKnights.com.
For more updates on the Rutgers women's lacrosse team, follow @TargumSports on Twitter.
