Rutgers women's lacrosse looks to continue early success against Georgetown
The Rutgers women's lacrosse team will hit the road to face off against Georgetown on Saturday. The Scarlet Knights (1-0, 0-0) will look to build off their strong season-opener win when they take on the Hoyas (2-0, 0-0).
Rutgers is coming off a 20-10 win against Manhattan, which took place at SHI Stadium on Busch campus. The Knights outshot the Jaspers (0-1, 0-0) 38-19 and scored 10 goals in the first half to earn the one-sided victory.
Rutgers has historically struggled against Georgetown, winning only two games from their last 11 meetings. These two Knights victories included a 15-8 home win last season and a 17-16 road victory in 2022.
Last season, the Hoyas had a 7-10 overall record, scored 199 goals, conceded 193 goals and did not make the Big East Tournament.
Graduate student midfielder Cassidy Spilis dominated in the win against Georgetown last season, scoring 6 goals, scooping up two ground balls and causing five turnovers. She will be a key player once again in this year's matchup.
Rutgers will need to look out for several Hoya attackers and remain strong on defense.
Kylie Hazen scored 37 goals and provided 25 assists last season. Emma Gebhardt netted 28 goals and dished out 18 assists in 2023. In Georgetown's season-opener win against American, Hazen had a hat trick and Gebhardt scored 7 goals.
Leah Warehime has been the starting goalkeeper for the Hoyas. Last season, Warehime had a save percentage of 50.3 and a goals against average of 10.39.
Lily Athanas was named Big East Player of the Week after her performance against the Eagles (1-1, 0-0). The defender had seven draw controls, two caused turnovers and three ground balls.
The Knights will also look to sophomore attackers Ava Kane and Lily Dixon, senior midfielder Ashley Moynahan and junior midfielder Emalie Clothier to provide a spark on offense.
On defense, graduate student defender Jessica Beneducci has had a strong start to the 2024 campaign. Between the pipes, senior goalkeeper Sophia Cardello recorded five saves against Manhattan in approximately 52 minutes of action.
Rutgers will have a tough non-conference schedule before it begins Big Ten play. The Knights will take on Army and Princeton, two teams it fell to last season.
The game between Rutgers and Georgetown will begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday and will be played at Cooper Field in Washington, D.C.
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