Rutgers
Photo Credit: Michael Franco

Rutgers women's lacrosse drops final game of regular season

The Rutgers' University women's lacrosse team took the field on Sunday, April 23, against James Madison University (JMU) for the final game of the regular season, where they lost 14-7. Rutgers finishes out the season 7-8 overall and 1-5 in conference play, but they did clinch a spot in the Big Ten Tournament.

Highlights

JMU kicked off the scoring as they took a three-goal lead early in the first period. Less than a minute in, Tai Jankowski scored to mark her 41st of the season. After a shot from Cassidy Spilis and a save from Kat Buchanan, JMU started the attack for their second goal. Isabella Peterson scored the second, marking her 61st of the season.

A quiet seven minutes followed, but that was cut off when Maggie Clark scored the third goal for the Dukes to give them the 3-0 lead with a little over five minutes to go in the period. In the final three minutes, Spilis scored two and Jenna Byrne scored the third to tie the game up at three heading into the second period.

JMU outscored Rutgers 5-1 in the second period to give the Scarlet Knights a big blow. Katelyn Morgan, Savannah Derey and Peterson each scored one, while Jankowski scored two. With a minute left, Ava Kane got one back for the Scarlet Knights marking her 14th of the season. Heading into halftime, JMU led 8-4.

Rutgers started off the third period strong as they scored two goals to cut their deficit to two. Marin Hartshorn scored the two goals marking her 27th and 28th of the season. Byrne got the assist for the first goal and Kate Carolonza was credited with the other. Despite the spark of offense the Scarlet Knights carried into the period, the Dukes shut them down as Taylor Marchetti scored the ninth after Lily Dixon received a yellow card for Rutgers. Jankowski and Peterson scored again as the latter scored twice. JMU led 12-6 at the end of the third.

The fourth period did not see much action from either team. Marchetti and Jankowski scored the final two goals for the Dukes and Lindsay Newton grabbed the final one for the Scarlet Knights. The Dukes outlasted Rutgers as the final score was 14-7.

Spilis and Hartshorn led the team with two goals each. Sophia Cardello made eight saves in the cage.

What's Next for the Scarlet Knights?

Rutgers returns to the field on Saturday, April 29, against Johns Hopkins University in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament in Baltimore, Maryland. Draw control is TBA.