No. 13 Rutgers women's lacrosse remains at home for matchup with San Diego State
After a hard-fought win against Wagner, the Rutgers women’s lacrosse team prepares for another home game against San Diego State tomorrow. This game is the first matchup between the two squads in the programs' histories.
The No. 13 Scarlet Knights (11-3, 2-2) broke their two-game losing streak on Wednesday against the Seahawks (5-8, 3-1). With the win, the program has now achieved the most consecutive wins in a season since 2010.
One of the leading performers in the win was junior midfielder Cassidy Spilis, who netted 6 goals and an assist for a season-high of 7 points.
Rutgers’ leader in assists, graduate student attacker Stephanie Kelly, also added 4 goals to the win. Meanwhile, junior midfielder Ashley Campo helped with a team-best three assists and a goal.
Sophomore attacker Kate Carolonza added 2 goals in the third quarter that boosted the Knights' victory. Rutgers doubled Wagner on the draw with 18 draw controls and outshot the Seahawks 35-21.
The Knights held down the fort on defense as junior defender Meghan Ball, junior defender Jessica Beneducci and sophomore midfielder Ashley Moynahan each caused two turnovers in the win.
Starting out of the halftime locker room in her sixth game of the season, freshman goalkeeper Caleigh Forti saved two shots in her second win in the net.
Graduate student attacker Taralyn Naslonski also assisted in Wednesday’s win and added another point to the record book. She became the program’s all-time leading scorer in the loss to Northwestern earlier this month.
“I don’t think we’re done yet," Naslonski said. "I think we made a lot of history last year, but I think we’re going to make even more history this postseason.”
The Aztecs (5-7, 0-0) faced their most formidable opponent of the season in the then-No. 3 Wildcats (12-2, 4-0) on Sunday. The program suffered its largest margin of defeat in the 20-8 loss.
“There are a lot of positives coming from this game, and I feel like we are now even better prepared for next weekend as we face our last ranked opponent for the year,” said head coach Kylee White after the loss.
San Diego State had three players score 2 goals in the loss in Deanna Balsama, Bailey Brown and Emma Betts. Balsama leads the Aztecs in points and goals for the season and averages 4.33 goals per game.
The game will start at 5 p.m. at SHI Stadium on Busch campus. Live stats will be provided on ScarletKnights.com.
For more updates on the Rutgers women's lacrosse team, follow @TargumSports on Twitter.
