Rutgers women's lacrosse sputters against Vermont in regular season finale
The Rutgers women's lacrosse team concluded its regular season with an 11-10 loss against Vermont on Sunday afternoon. Despite a late surge in the final quarter, the Scarlet Knights (7-9, 1-5) were unable to take the lead and swing the momentum in their favor.
The game started with the Catamounts (8-7, 1-4) finding the back of the net with no hesitancy at all. Rutgers responded with a goal from junior midfielder and attacker Victoria Goldrick to quickly even out the score.
Vermont, though, was able to pick up a quartet of goals before the Knights could score again. With goals from Ava Vasile and Ciera Licare and 2 goals from Jane Trauger, the score was quickly brought to 5-1.
Sophomore midfielder Ava Chiarella helped Rutgers get back on its feet with a goal assisted by graduate student midfielder Cassidy Spilis. Freshman midfielder Payton Tini rocketed the ball into the back of the net to end the quarter with her team trailing by only 2 goals.
Both teams battled for possession of the ball during the second quarter of the game, with the Knights playing catch-up to get their first lead of the afternoon.
Chiarella had a great deal of attacking success in the first half of the contest, scoring 2 consecutive goals to tie the game with 10:08 remaining in the quarter. On a free position shot, Spilis fired the ball past the goalkeeper to give Rutgers a 6-5 lead.
Fighting for the lead again, Claire Adelhelm scored for the Catamounts to tie the game. Despite Tini sniping in another goal to claim the lead again, Vermont concluded the quarter with a last-minute goal to make the score 7-7 at halftime.
The third quarter of the game saw a slower strength of ball movement, but the Catamounts were able to break the tie right at the start of the quarter. Vasile stayed close to the goal throughout the 15 minutes, and the midfielder tallied all 3 of Vermont's goals during the quarter.
The Knights didn't leave the quarter scoreless, as Spilis found the back of the net with less than 1 minute remaining in the quarter, bringing the score to 10-8.
Spilis maintained her scoring prowess into the last quarter of play, netting 2 goals to level the score at 10-10. Rutgers' scoring stopped there, and the Catamounts capitalized with a goal from Kendall Traveis with approximately a minute left to play, which ended up being the game-winner.
Vasile and Trauger were the stars of the game for Vermont, scoring 7 of the Catamounts' 11 goals. On the other side, Spilis and Chiarella netted 7 of the 10 Knights' goals.
Up next for Rutgers will be a test against a conference foe to be named later in the Big Ten Tournament. The quarterfinals of the tournament will face off on Saturday.
For more updates on the Rutgers women's lacrosse team, follow @TargumSports on X.
