Rutgers women's lacrosse defeats Delaware to open season
The Rutgers women’s lacrosse team defeated Delaware 16-8 in yesterday morning’s season-opener.
Preceding the win on Saturday, junior midfielder Cassidy Spilis was named to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List, her second consecutive season being recognized for the list. She is among 11 players in the conference to join the watch list.
The No. 17 Scarlet Knights (1-0, 0-0) doubled the Blue Hens (0-1, 0-0) in scoring as nine different Rutgers players contributed to the scoring. This victory marks the Knights’ fourth consecutive win against Delaware dating back to 2018.
Senior attacker Marin Hartshorn opened the scoring for the season with an assist from sophomore midfielder Mikayla Dever less than two minutes into play. The Blue Hens responded minutes later with a goal from Danika Swech.
Swech led Delaware last season in scoring and was one of four Blue Hens who contributed to 93 percent of scoring for their squad.
Rutgers went on a 3-0 scoring run for the next seven minutes before both sides contributed 1 last goal to end the first period. The Knights dominated the second quarter scoring 5 goals.
In that second period, which saw Rutgers outscore the Blue Hens 5-0, Spilis found her second goal of the season. Hartshorn, graduate student attackers Stephanie Kelly and Taralyn Naslonski and junior attacker Jenna Byrne all also found the back of the net before the half.
Going into halftime, the Knights led 15-6 in shots on goal and won a majority of draw controls. Sophomore goalkeeper Sophia Cardello also tallied four saves to solidify the lead.
Rutgers held its lead throughout the third quarter, as despite conceding a goal in the first four minutes, the Knights quickly responded with 5 more goals after the break.
Spilis and Hartshorn secured hat tricks for the game in those 5 goals while Kelly netted her second of the game. Junior midfielder Ashley Campo and junior attacker Janey Galski also contributed their first goals of the season to extend the lead to 15-3.
The final quarter saw freshman midfielder Emalie Clothier score her first career goal for Rutgers as the program cruised its way to an opening-day win.
The Knights capitalized on Delaware’s turnovers and dominated draw controls to aid their victory. They also had 11 caused turnovers, one less than last season’s single-game high.
Adding to the success, Kelly, who finished her career at St. Joseph’s second on the all-time points leaderboard, tied Hartshorn and Naslonski for the points-lead in the win.
Rutgers will host its first home game at 5 p.m. on Wednesday at SHI Stadium on Busch campus against Army.
For updates on the Rutgers women's lacrosse team, follow @TargumSports on Twitter.
