Rutgers women's lacrosse looks to upset No. 2 Maryland in weekend road matchup
The Rutgers women's lacrosse team is gearing up to travel down to Maryland this weekend. The Scarlet Knights (5-4, 0-2) will look to redeem themselves after losing their past three games.
Rutgers had a strong beginning to its season prior to meeting with Big Ten opponents. Despite playing close games against Penn State and Michigan, the Knights were ultimately defeated in the end.
Rutgers will have a test on the field against the Terrapins (8-1, 1-0). No. 2 Maryland has beaten all its opponents played so far except for Florida earlier in the season.
The Knights will be the second conference team the Terrapins will match up against. With a 12-6 victory over Ohio State last week, Maryland got off to a strong start in its conference schedule.
The Terrapins have a powerful offense, with multiple players that tend to score numerous goals each game. Hannah Leubecker leads off the team with 22 goals thus far into the season, with Kori Edmondson following close behind with 18 goals.
Emily Sterling has been the main goalkeeper for the Terrapins with 80 saves combined throughout her nine starts. Collecting 130 draw controls and 131 ground balls, Maryland’s defense also helps generate success.
In its history against the Terrapins, Rutgers has only triumphed once. Maryland has defeated the Knights 11 times with the lone loss taking place during the 2021 season.
Rutgers has a lot of work to do on the field this weekend if it hopes to beat the Terrapins. Improvements need to be made both defensively and offensively for the Knights to bring home a win.
A lack of ball possession and too many turnovers forced Rutgers to lose to Yale on Sunday. The missed shots on offense and mishandled passes gave the Bulldogs (7-0, 1-0) the opportunity to offset the Knights' errors with goals and give them the win.
In order for Rutgers to prevail over Maryland, the team will need to gain more offensive time with the ball without conducting avoidable turnovers.
Graduate student midfielder Cassidy Spilis continues to lead the team with 36 goals. Other Knights, such as sophomore attacker and midfielder Lily Dixon and junior midfielder and attacker Victoria Goldrick, have also been a big help in scoring and assisting multiple goals.
If Rutgers can maintain ball control and fare well against the Terrapins’ offense, the Knights have the potential to dominate Maryland.
The first draw will take place at noon on Sunday in College Park, Maryland with the game being broadcast on Big Ten Network.
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