Vol. 6: It's Time to Take Rutgers Seriously
Vol. 6: It's Time to Take Rutgers Seriously
There are seven remaining undefeated teams in the country, and Rutgers is one of them. The Scarlet Knights are off to a program-best 8-0 start.
Cassidy Spilis (left) and Taralyn Naslonski (right) embrace during Rutgers’ 12-5 win over then-No. 21 James Madison on March 13. Photo courtesy: Rutgers Athletics.
It’s been eight years since Rutgers hit the nine-win mark. It’s been nine years since the Scarlet Knights last had a winning season.
Unless you count the 2020 campaign, in which they went 5-4 before the world was flipped upside by COVID-19. That season, however, was the foundation for head coach Melissa Lehman.
Last year, playing a conference-only schedule, Rutgers went 6-8 in Big Ten competition, beating Maryland, Penn State and Johns Hopkins—all for the first time in program history.
Then the Scarlet Knights recorded their first-ever NCAA Tournament win with an opening-round victory over an up-and-coming Drexel program.
Rutgers is taking the next step in 2022. It’s one of the seven remaining undefeated teams. And, after the Scarlet Knights’ head-turning 8-0 start—their best in program history—they are No. 12 in the country, the highest they’ve been ranked since the IWLCA had them at No. 11 at the end of the 1999 season.
That year, Rutgers went 14-3. It was one of seven double-digit winning seasons in the history of the program, which began in 1977.
Lehman is shooting for sustained success, though. And she is well on her way.
Rutgers just got a facility upgrade this past year as the Barbara Rodkin Academic Success Center opened in January 2021, housing the locker rooms for the Scarlet Knights’ men’s and women’s lacrosse and soccer programs as well as training and tutoring resources.
Not only is recruiting on the rise, but so is the product on the field. Led by defender Meghan Ball and attacker Cassidy Spilis—who became the program’s first All-Americans since 2007 last year—Rutgers has outscored opponents, 129-65, in 2022.
Taralyn Naslonski (36 points) and Stephanie Kelly (38 points) have paced a Rutgers offense that ranks 10th nationally in scoring (16.12 goals per game).
Rutgers has beaten an Army team that has since ripped off a six-game win streak, and it has topped the likes of Temple and James Madison, both ranked at the time.
But the Scarlet Knights have yet to face a Big Ten opponent. If they want to stay in the Top 15 or, more importantly, threaten in May, they’ll have to be even better than they were in league play last year.
Other Storylines to Know:
1. Denver beats No. 10 Michigan, 9-8, and cracks the Top 10 for the first time in two years. The Pioneers traveled to Ann Arbor as the No. 11 team in the country and had the chance to get their first top-10 win of the season. Michigan was ranked No. 8 with wins over Notre Dame, Arizona State and Towson, to name a few.
The Wolverines dominated early and jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the first quarter. From that point on, Denver scored eight of the final 11 goals. A trio of goals from senior attacker Kayla DeRose, freshman midfielder Lauren Black and graduate defender Sammie Morton pulled Denver to within two at halftime. Michigan opened the third quarter scoring a pair and increased its lead to 8-4, but the Pioneers would score five straight, including two from junior midfielder Ellie Curry, to win, 9-8.
Denver now sits at 8-1 overall and is ranked in the Top 10 for the first time since Feb. 24, 2020, now at No. 9. Its other six wins have come against Louisville, Stanford, California, Ohio State, UC Davis, Vanderbilt and, on Tuesday, Fairfield. The lone loss was a 9-5 defeat in three quarters to No. 1 Boston College. Charlotte North scored four goals for the Eagles, and Jenn Medjid added three of her own before the game was called because of the cold.
Denver, which is off to an 8-1 start, celebrates after beating then-undefeated Michigan on March 13. Photo courtesy: Denver Athletics.
2. After the Princeton loss, No. 15 USC asserts Pac-12 dominance. The Women of Troy rounded out their three-game homestand with a pair of wins: an 11-7 victory over No. 25 Colorado and then a 21-5 blowout of Oregon. USC improved to 5-0 in Pac-12 openers on the back of a career-high seven goals from midfielder Kelsey Huff. In the process, Huff moved into second place for most hat tricks in Trojans history. She accomplished that feat in the first quarter as USC got out to a 4-0 lead in the opening frame. Colorado never caught up, in part because of Trojans goalie Kait Devir’s career-high 12 stops.
USC followed the same blueprint against Oregon. Its fast start versus the Ducks was even more dramatic. The Trojans outscored Oregon, 10-1, in the opening period. It didn’t matter that the Ducks had the advantage in the circle. Not when USC committed a mere six turnovers, won 16-of-24 ground balls and piled up 17 more shots than its Pac-12 foe. The Trojans flipped on the running clock in the second quarter, and the rest was history. USC is 5-1 with two winnable games (at Cal and Stanford) coming up in the Bay Area.
3. No. 7 Loyola Smacks Georgetown and holds off No. 14 Florida to remain undefeated. Last year, the Greyhounds had to make up for an 0-2 start. This time around, it’s been a different story. Loyola has won its first six games by a combined score of 85-50. Jen Adams’ team stormed out to a 12-2 lead at Georgetown and never looked back. Livy Rosenzweig—tops on the team with 17 goals and 26 points—Sam Fielder and Jillian Wilson logged hat tricks. What’s more, Rosenzweig became the third Greyhound and fourth player in Patriot League history to eclipse the 300-draw mark.
Senior defender Katie Detwiler led the way in the circle against Florida, though. She won a team-high six draws, and Loyola won 15-of-24 total bouts. It helped make up for the fact that the Greyhounds committed 13 turnovers and were outshot, 31-23. Florida, now 0-4 against top-10 teams this year, erased a pair of three-goal deficits, but, once the game was 9-9 in the fourth quarter, Fielder and Catie Corolla sealed the deal for Loyola.
4. Boasting a top offense, No. 23 UConn extends its five-game win streak. While Denver has one of the best scoring defenses in the country, UConn sits across the Big East at 6-1 overall and has the best scoring offense in the conference. UConn leads the Big East in goals per game (16.33), shots per game (33.8), shots on goal per game (26.17) and shot percentage (48.3%).
Sydney Watson has been the player to watch in Storrs. The senior midfielder from Prince Frederick, Maryland, is first in the conference in draw controls per game (8.67), goals (28) and points per game (4.33). She has tallied six or more points in four games so far this year, highlighted by eight versus UMass Lowell (6 goals, 2 assists). On the back end, senior Landyn White picked up right where she left off after a second team All-Big East season in 2021. White has the best save percentage in the conference at .474.
The non-conference schedule for UConn has been manageable. The Huskies played just one ranked team—then-No. 13 JMU—and lost, 13-7. They have a pair of solid wins, with a 17-14 victory over UMass—the Atlantic 10 preseason favorite—and a 20-14 win on Sunday over Cornell. Next up, UConn travels to take on Albany on March 22 and hosts Hofstra on March 26.
Star UConn attacker Sydney Watson gets open versus Fairfield in a 12-10 season-opening win. Photo courtesy: UConn Athletics.
Weekly Focus:
THE SERVICE ACADEMIES ARE KICKING IT INTO GEAR…
Picked second and third, respectively, in the Patriot League preseason poll, No. 17 Navy and Army are a combined 12-3 and have wins over the Big Ten, CAA and A10. The two service academies seem like the clear favorites to challenge No. 7 Loyola for the Patriot League crown.
In Annapolis, the Midshipmen are off a 6-1 start and have been ranked in the last two Inside Women’s Lacrosse polls, now sitting at No. 17. Navy kicked off the year 4-0 with wins over California, George Mason, George Washington and Mount St. Mary’s. After a 10-9 loss to Saint Joseph’s, Navy has won two straight games versus ranked teams: 13-6 over then-No. 15 Drexel and 13-12 in overtime against then-No. 16 Johns Hopkins.
Sophomore midfielder Leelee Denton leads the team in points with 20 (16 goals, 4 assists) and senior midfielder Kasey Dietzel has 19 (8 goals, 11 assists). Sophomore goalie Jo Torres is one of the best in the conference: She is second in the Patriot League in in goals against average (8.87).
Up at West Point, things looked shaky for the Army Black Knights after an 0-2 start, which saw a 16-5 defeat to then-No. 22 Temple and a 16-9 loss to then-No. 17 Rutgers (now No. 12). Army, however, has rattled off six consecutive wins over Hofstra, Niagara, Marist, Monmouth, Delaware and Boston University.
The Black Knights are first in the conference in shots on goals per game (23.75) and have the fewest turnovers per contest (13.25). Junior attacker Kathleen Sullivan does it all for Army. She has three games with seven or more points, most notably her 11-point showcase against Delaware (6 goals, 5 assists). Sullivan is first in the Patriot League in assists (17), points (41), free-position goals per game (1.00) and free-position percentage (88.9%). She has 24 goals, 17 assists and 41 points. She is tied with Stanford’s star attacker Ashley Humphrey for eighth-most points in the country.
Numbers to Know:
10 – the number of points San Diego State senior attacker Deanna Balsama scored in a 27-18 loss to No. 11 Princeton. She logged eight goals and two assists. In her previous game—a 18-15 win over Oregon—Balsama had eight goals and one assist. Balsama spent her first three years at George Mason, where she tallied 138 career points. Balsama leads the country in goals per game at 5.20.
0.960 – the team clearing percentage of the Virginia Tech Hokies and the best rate in the country. In their last three games, the Hokies are 51-of-55 on clears, including a perfect 18-of-18 in a 13-12 upset over No. 16 Notre Dame. Second in team clearing percentage is Georgetown at 0.957.
7 – the number of caused turnovers Youngstown State freshman attacker Natalie Calandra-Ryan had in an 18-14 loss to Winthrop on March 8. Calandra-Ryan is first on the team in goals (23), shots (50), draw controls (44), ground balls (20) and caused turnovers (16).
Tewaaraton Watch:
Thirteen players made up the first round of Tewaaraton Watch list additions. Here’s the position breakdown of the baker’s dozen:
-Attack: 4
-Midfield: 4
-Defense: 4
-Goalie: 1
And here are some names to know:
Meghan Ball (Jr.), Rutgers Defender: Ball leads the undefeated Scarlet Knights in ground balls (21), caused turnovers (18) and draw controls (47).
Katie DeSimone (So.), Duke Attacker: DeSimone has had a breakout sophomore campaign, in which she’s piled up 32 goals in her first nine outings, ranking fifth nationally in scoring.
Arielle Weissman (Gr.), Michigan Goalie: Helping Michigan to a 7-1 start, Weissman has posted a .567 save percentage, good for third in the country. She has registered 55 stops, just six fewer than she made all of last season.
Sophomore attacker Katie DeSimone scores one of her five goals against Penn on March 13. She ranks fifth in the nation in scoring. Photo courtesy: Duke Athletics.
Latest Inside Lacrosse Poll
NOTE: screenshots pulled from insidelacrosse.com.
The top-six teams didn’t budge. Northwestern defeating Stony Brook kept the Wildcats one step ahead of the Seawolves. Loyola climbed from No. 9 to No. 7 after fending off Florida and continuing its unbeaten streak. Denver also bumped up two spots. Even though the Pioneers’ 21-game home win streak came to an end in a cold-shortened game against top-ranked BC, they responded by handing Michigan its first loss of the season. In turn, the Wolverines slipped from No. 8 to No. 10.
Still undefeated, Princeton and Rutgers came in at No. 11 and No. 12 this week. Navy, now 6-1, broke into the Top 20 with its one-goal win over Johns Hopkins. Regardless of its loss to up-and-down Virginia, Richmond moved from No. 22 to No. 19. The week’s biggest winners, though, were UMass and Virginia Tech, both of which weren’t in the poll last week. No. 22 UMass thrashed Vanderbilt, and the No. 24 Hokies have won four in a row. Drexel and Temple were both bounced from the Inside Lacrosse Top 25 this week.
What’s Ahead?
No. 21 JMU @ No. 19 Richmond, March 16, 5 p.m.
No. 13 Florida @ No. 3 Syracuse, March 16, 6:30 p.m.
Dartmouth @ No. 22 UMass, March 18, 1 p.m.
No. 18 Johns Hopkins @ No. 10 Michigan, March 18, 2 p.m.
Drexel @ No. 13 Florida, March 20, 11 a.m.
No. 1 BC @ No. 2 North Carolina, March 20, 2 p.m.
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