No. 14 Rutgers women's lacrosse upset in overtime by Arizona State
The Rutgers women’s lacrosse team lost against Arizona State 13-12 this afternoon in an overtime thriller. The loss marked the two teams' first meeting since the Sun Devils’ (5-6, 3-2) first began varsity play in 2018.
Inside Lacrosse and ILWomen named junior defender Meghan Ball and junior midfielder Cassidy Spilis 2022 Midseason All-Americans earlier in the week. Both players were named to the second team and appeared on the list for the second consecutive season.
Ball leads the team on the defensive end with 63 draw controls, 35 ground balls and 29 caused turnovers. On the offensive end, Spilis is the No. 14 Scarlet Knights' (10-2, 2-1) top goalscorer with 41 on the season.
She sits third in the Big Ten for goals, while Ball leads the conference in caused turnovers and is second in total ground balls.
In the matchup, both teams weren't shy of finding the back of the net as graduate student attacker Taralyn Naslonski opened the scoring for Rutgers in the first 5 minutes of play.
The Knights’ defense held Arizona State to 1 goal for the whole quarter and forced six turnovers to give them a 3-1 lead.
In the second quarter, the Sun Devils scored 3 consecutive goals to tie the game at 4 before junior midfielder Ashley Campo and senior attacker Marin Hartshorn scored off of 2 free-position shots just before the half.
The third quarter would be Rutgers’ most significant test, with a 2-goal lead coming out of the halftime break. Graduate student attacker Stephanie Kelly bagged her second of the game while Hartshorn secured a hat trick. Two of Arizona State’s top goal scorers, Carley Adams and Taylor Pinzone, finished the third quarter with 2 more goals to contain their deficit to 2.
The fourth quarter brought a shift in scoring, with the Knights losing their lead goal by goal. The Sun Devils’ Katie Vahle set a new season-high with 11 saves, four in the fourth quarter alone. Arizona State also ramped up shots on goal and eventually tied the game at 12, sending them into overtime.
Pinzone and Adams closed the match for the Sun Devils, with Adams scoring her 25th goal of the season to lead them to victory.
After her performance, Naslonski sits 4 points behind Denise Reed for the program’s all-time lead in career points.
Next time out, Rutgers is on the road against No. 3 Northwestern this Thursday at 8:30 p.m. The Big Ten Network will broadcast the match, and ScarletKnights.com will provide live stats.
For more updates on the Rutgers women's lacrosse team, follow @TargumSports on Twitter.
