Rutgers women's lacrosse faces uphill battle against No. 3 Northwestern
The Rutgers women's lacrosse team will travel to Evanston, Illinois, for a tough test against Northwestern on Saturday. The Scarlet Knights (5-5, 0-3) have yet to pick up a conference win after losing their last four games.
Rutgers is coming off a 13-8 loss to Maryland. The Knights trailed 10-7 heading into the fourth quarter, but the Terrapins (9-1, 2-0) scored 3 goals in the final 15 minutes of the game to seal the win.
The Wildcats (9-2, 1-1) will be another difficult opponent for Rutgers. No. 3 Northwestern has been one of the best teams in the country all season but still narrowly lost to Penn State in its last game.
The Wildcats thrive offensively, scoring 17.36 goals per game, the fourth-most in the country. Much of this can be attributed to Izzy Scane, who has netted a nation-leading 49 goals, while Madison Taylor follows closely behind with 40 goals.
Northwestern's playmaker, Erin Coykendall, has 31 assists, the seventh-most in NCAA Division I women's lacrosse. Coykendall also finds the back of the cage often, scoring 22 goals off 48 shots.
Samantha Smith was named Big Ten Midfielder of the Week after her performance against North Carolina and the Nittany Lions (6-4, 2-0). Smith recorded 22 draw controls and three assists, earning her first career Midfielder of the Week honor. Smith's team-high 64 draw controls have helped the Wildcats average a country-leading 19.09 draw controls per game.
It has been tough sledding for the Knights against Northwestern. Rutgers defeated the Wildcats 13-5 in 2022 but has lost the other 13 contests. Graduate student midfielder Cassidy Spilis took full control in the lone win, scoring 5 goals and recording an assist.
Spilis will be relied on once again in this year's matchup, but junior midfielder and attacker Victoria Goldrick and sophomore attacker and midfielder Lily Dixon will also need to play a big role in the attack. The Knights will need to put on a defensive masterclass and will look to senior goalkeeper Sophia Cardello to do so. Cardello has a save percentage of 46.4 and allows 10.01 goals per game.
The game between Rutgers and Northwestern will begin at 6 p.m. on Saturday. It will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
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