Rutgers women’s lacrosse made history on Wednesday night in defeating No. 6 Stony Brook by the score of 12-7. It was the first regular season win over a top six team in program history. The triumph was especially sweet as RU suffered season ending losses to the Seawolves in the NCAA Tournament the past two years. While this season has been up and down for the Scarlet Knights, the win at SHI Stadium in front of its fans was a high point.
It was 4-3 Stony Brook late in the first period before Rutgers took control with three straight goals. After a goal by the visitors to cut RU’s lead to 8-7 late in the third period, the Scarlet Knights dominated the rest of the way. They scored four unanswered goals to end the game and held Stony Brook scoreless over the final 18+ minutes of action.
“Tonight is a huge win for our program,” Lehman said. “Stony Brook has been such a consistent team for a while now, and we came close last year but couldn’t pull it out. This team had this game circled on the calendar once the schedule came out, and I told them we were close. I am so proud of the way they played tonight.”
Stony Brook entered Wednesday’s game tied for 14th nationally in scoring offense by averaging 15.0 goals per game. However, the Rutgers defense stepped up and neutralized the offensive attack for the Seawolves. RU held a 15-7 advantage in draw controls as All-Americans Meghan Ball (8) and Cassidy Spilis (6) dominated in that area. It helped limit Stony Brook to just 23 shots, nine below their season average.
In addition, goalkeeper Sophia Cardello made 12 saves and held the visitors to eight goals under their scoring average.
Offensively, Rutgers scored 12 times on 17 shots on goals. Spilis led RU with four goals and an assist. Marin Hartshorn and Ava Kane scored three goals apiece while Jenna Byrne had three assists. Ashley Campo and Ashley Moynahan added a goal each. Mikayla Dever added two assists while Lily Dixon had one.
“We have just kept our chemistry going as a team,” Spilis said. “Every night is an opportunity for us to go out there and have some fun. We put it together tonight and it worked out for us. “Stony Brook is a really talented team, but they ended our season two years in a row, so this is really huge for us.”
The Scarlet Knights are now 5-7 overall after ending a four game losing streak, all to ranked foes. Lehman’s team will look to build momentum the rest of the way off of Wednesday’s historic win.
Rutgers will next face Vermont on Saturday on the road in Burlington. The game will live stream on ESPN3 at noon.
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pj43
April 13, 2023 at 6:30 pm
Have the ladies turned the corner on this season? A win against JMU in the season’s final game would be a sweet way to go into the Big Ten Tournament on a high note and make some noise!