Rutgers women's lacrosse snatches historic win over No. 6 Stony Brook
The Rutgers women's lacrosse team returned to its winning ways yesterday after defeating Stony Brook by a score of 12-7 at SHI Stadium on Busch campus. The Scarlet Knights (5-7, 0-5) only allowed the Seawolves (9-3, 4-0) to score 2 goals in the second half.
The first quarter proved to be a back-and-forth affair. After less than 3 minutes of play, Jaden Hampel scored the 1st goal of the match for No. 6 Stony Brook. With 7:50 remaining, Rutgers responded with a goal from freshman attacker Ava Kane to level the game at one point apiece.
Less than 1 minute later, senior midfielder Cassidy Spilis found the back of the cage to give the Knights their first lead of the contest. Charlotte Verhulst successfully converted a free position attempt 27 seconds later to knot things up at 2-2.
Approximately 1 minute later, junior midfielder Ashley Moynahan scored via a free position attempt to put Rutgers back in the lead. The Seawolves would then take a 4-3 lead thanks to 2 quick goals from Kailyn Hart. Shortly after, Kane netted her 2nd goal of the match to make the score 4-4 heading into the second quarter.
In the opening 2 minutes of the second quarter, senior midfielder Ashley Campo successfully converted a free position attempt to put the Knights ahead. With 8:40 remaining, Spilis netted her 2nd goal of the contest to extend Rutgers' lead by 2 goals.
Approximately 3 minutes later, Hampel found the back of the cage to cut the deficit to 1 goal. With 1 second remaining in the quarter, Spilis beat the buzzer for a hat trick to make the score 7-5 heading into halftime.
Stony Brook scored the 1st goal of the third quarter via a free position attempt. With 6:34 remaining, Spilis netted her 4th goal of the game to put the Knights ahead 8-6.
Approximately 3 minutes later, Verhulst netted a goal to cut the deficit to 1 goal. Rutgers would gain momentum at the end of the third quarter, when graduate student attacker Marin Hartshorn and Kane both scored, which resulted in a score of 10-7 heading into the final quarter.
Less than 4 minutes into the fourth quarter, Hartshorn netted a goal to make the score 11-7. Approximately 2 minutes later, the player netted the match's final goal to seal the Knights' victory.
Rutgers shut out the Seawolves in the final quarter to end a four-game losing streak and achieve a historic win, as the game was the Knights' first-ever win against a Top-6 opponent.
Spilis led the team with 4 goals and one assist. Kane and Hartshorn both netted hat tricks as well.
On defense, senior defender Meghan Ball led the backline with eight draw controls. Junior goalkeeper Sophia Cardello saved 12 shots and spoke on the importance of the win for Rutgers.
"It was super huge," Cardello said. "We've been struggling a little bit, but I've always believed in my team. I knew we could pull out a huge game like this. We always stand big in important games."
The Knights will look to continue their winning run when they travel to Burlington, Vermont, to take on Vermont on Saturday. Face-off is scheduled for noon, and the game will be broadcasted on ESPN3.
"We took care of the ball," said head coach Melissa Lehman. "They played with their whole hearts tonight ... Anytime you go up against a top opponent, a win like that is sweet, but it's even better after having them end our season the last two years."
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