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The Rutgers women’s lacrosse team went on the road to Delaware on Saturday, a place they’ve lost the previous two times they traveled to Newark in 2015 & 2017. Producing a different result in today’s game seemed doubtful when Rutgers trailed 11-6 at halftime.
The Scarlet Knights allowed an 8-1 scoring run from Delaware to close out the first half after jumping out in front with an early 5-3 lead. Head coach Laura Brand Sias inserted backup goalie Kameron Halsall with 8:27 left in the first half after starter Devon Kearns allowed 8 goals midway into the second quarter. While Halsall did allow 3 goals before halftime, she made two key saves in the opening frame and produced 9 saves after the break.
She made a clutch stick save on a free-position attempt with just over a minute left in the game that gave Rutgers an opportunity to tie the score. With 45 seconds remaining, Samantha Budd found Marin Hartshorn, the two-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week, and she converted the game tying goal that forced overtime. Soon after, Taralyn “TT” Naslonski converted on a free-position attempt in OT to complete the impressive comeback.
Here's TT's game-winner, completing the come-from-behind victory!
— Rutgers Women's Lax (@rulaxbrand) February 23, 2019
Video via @UDBlueHens #RUWLAX | #GoRU pic.twitter.com/g272IiIF9Z
Halsall and the Rutgers defense, led by Christine DiLullo and Regina Sharp, held the Blue Hens scoreless after halftime.
Naslonski continues to shine this season and had 3 goals and 4 assists for 7 points. Allie Ferrara scored 4 goals, Dakota Pastore has 2 goals and 1 assist, and Marin Hartshorn had the game tying goal and 2 assists. Hannah Hollingsworth added 2 goals as well.
Delaware outshot Rutgers 28-24, held a +3 turnover margin, as well as a 18-14 advantage with groundballs and 14-11 with draw controls. However, Rutgers won a key draw in overtime.
The Scarlet Knights are now 3-1 on the season and host no. 11 Penn on Wednesday at 6 p.m. The Quakers also won in overtime on the road Saturday, defeating no. 17 Johns Hopkins 12-11. It will be a great opportunity for Rutgers to see how they matchup against what will likely be a top ten team next week.