No. 13 Rutgers women's lacrosse wins close battle against Wagner
The Rutgers women’s lacrosse team broke its losing streak tonight after defeating Wagner 13-11. The No. 13 Scarlet Knights (11-3, 2-2) matched their most victories in a season since 2010. Rutgers remains 1 of 5 ranked Big Ten programs in the country.
The Knights hit the ground running, opening the scoreboard in the first 2 minutes of play. Junior midfielder Ashley Campo found senior attacker Marin Hartshorn for her 14th goal of the season. Less than 30 seconds later, Campo assisted junior midfielder Cassidy Spilis to double Rutgers' lead.
The Seahawks (5-8, 3-1) went on a 4-1 run to end the first quarter with a 1-goal advantage. The Knights responded to Wagner quickly at the start of the second quarter. Rutgers scored 3 consecutive goals to provide the team with a 2-goal lead and give Spilis her 11th hat trick of the season.
The Knights continued their domination out of halftime, besting the Seahawks 5-2 on the draw and nearly doubling their ground ball total in the third quarter alone.
Wagner scored 3 goals with 9 minutes left in the quarter before Rutgers responded by going on a 3-0 run to end the third period. Leading by 2 in the final quarter, the Knights established a more comfortable lead with 2 more goals.
Spilis scored her 50th and 51st goals of the season to contribute to a season-high 8 points. Graduate student attacker Stephanie Kelly dished out the final assist of the game, her 32nd of the season. That pass sits her second in the Big Ten and tied for sixth in the nation.
Graduate student attacker Taralyn Naslonski added an assist tonight after setting a program record for career points last week, passing all-time leader Denise Reed with 235 total points.
Junior defender Meghan Ball remains one of the best defenders in the country this season. The midseason All-American ranks first in the conference and fourth in the nation with 2.62 caused turnovers per game. She is also third in the Big Ten with 5.23 draw controls per match. She leads the program in all defensive stats with 44 ground balls, 36 caused turnovers and 73 draw controls.
Next time out, Rutgers will host San Diego State at 5 p.m. on Saturday at SHI Stadium on Busch campus.
For more updates on the Rutgers women's lacrosse team, follow @TargumSports on Twitter.
