Women's Lacrosse Suffers 16-9 Setback at No. 24 Rutgers

Saturday, February 24

Piscataway, NJ

1:00 PM

Army West Point

0-4

Rutgers University

4-0

ARMY

Rutgers

Women's Lacrosse Suffers 16-9 Setback at No. 24 Rutgers

February 25, 2024 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

PISCATAWAY, NJ - Army West Point women's lacrosse (0-4) was defeated by a score 16-9 at No. 24 Rutgers (4-0) on Saturday afternoon from SHI Stadium.

The Black Knights fell behind 5-1 in the opening quarter and were unable to find a way back into the game as the Scarlet Knights dominated the draw 19-10 while seeing three hat tricks led by five goals from Cassidy Spilis.

Army was once again led by its sophomore duo of Brigid Duffy and Allison Reilly who each recorded two goals with an assist, as Duffy also paced the Black Knights with a career-best five ground balls and six draw controls.

Julia Gorajek had her strongest game of the campaign with three points and three ground balls while classmate Carleigh Armstrong registered a pair of goals. Lacey Bartholomay made the start in goal for Army, making her first appearance of the season and logging seven saves.

After Rutgers opened the scoring, Army found the next goal with 8:31 remaining in the first as Gorajek fed Armstrong in front for her fourth goal of the season. The Scarlet Knights would then go on a 4-0 run which featured a natural hat trick from Spilis in the span of 3:03 as Rutgers pulled ahead 5-1. Gorajek had an answer to stop the run late in the frame, but Army trailed 5-2 after the first.

Duffy grabbed the draw control to start the second quarter and pushed the pace forward, eventually finding Lily Valentini for an easy score just ten seconds into the second as Army seemed to be gaining momentum. Ava Kane quickly got the goal back for Rutgers while Lily Dixon made it 7-3 with a free-position goal with 12:40 remaining in the second. Both defenses would then settle in, as just two goals were scored in the final 12 minutes of the half. Sarah Chernik got her first of the season with another assist to Gorajek while another goal from the eight-meter for Rutgers with 1:58 left eventually made it a 8-4 game at the half.

Army's hopes of a second half comeback were quickly spoiled as Rutgers tabbed the first three to begin the third quarter as Army faced an 11-4 deficit. Reilly and Duffy managed to help produce three goals in the frame, with Reilly scoring on the eight-meter and then feeding the reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Year for a goal, shortly after Duffy got her first of the contest while Army was a pair of women-up. The Black Knights trailed 13-7 heading into the fourth quarter.

Rutgers got the first two of the final stanza while seeing out the rest of the game after taking the commanding 15-7 lead. Armstrong and Reilly added goals in the final fifteen to give them each a multi-goal effort to add to their ledger. Dixon secured her hat trick for Rutgers in the final minute, pushing the final score to 16-9 as the Scarlet Knights were able to avenge their loss from last season.

Shots were even at 30 apiece while Rutgers went 4-9 from the eight-meter compared to a 1-5 effort from Army. The Black Knights had just 11 turnovers compared to the home side's 14 while Army also picked up a season-best 23 ground balls as a team.

Army will return home next Saturday to take on Hofstra from Michie Stadium at noon.