Northwestern lacrosse continues its dominant start against Rutgers

Coming off of a big series against top-10 opponent Penn State, No. 3 Northwestern (7-0, 7-0 B1G) kept on rolling in Piscataway, besting the Scarlet Knights (3-5, 3-5 B1G) 22-10 on Friday and 21-7 on Sunday.

Izzy Scane set a personal and school record, scoring 10 goals on Thursday. She broke the previous record of nine, which was held by Selena Lasota. Lauren Gilbert added five of her own while picking up three draw controls. Highly touted transfer Sammy Mueller found the back of the net three times while contributing four assists. Lindsey McKone added two goals and had a massive impact with six draw controls and five ground balls.

Northwestern took 20 more shots than Rutgers did (42-to-22) and won 19 draw controls to the opponent’s 15. The disparity in shots resulted from the ‘Cats defense, as Rutgers turned the ball over 20 times, 10 of which were caused by Northwestern.

Rutgers struck first in the game but was only ahead of the Cats for two minutes total. Madison Doucette gave up eight goals while stopping five shots in 51 minutes played, and sophomore Logan Lillie saved two while giving up two. The two goalies didn’t have a chance to shine, as NU’s dominant offense carried the team to a 22-10 series-opening win.

Even after suffering a brutal loss, that the Scarlet Knights couldn’t find a way to overcome the ‘Cats in their next matchup. Scane scored 15 seconds into Sunday’s contest, and Northwestern never trailed. The junior from Clarkston, Michigan again led all scorers, this time with six goals. Gilbert added in four of her own; Leah Holmes found the back of the net thrice, and Erin Coykendall, Brennan Dwyer and Taylor Pinzone each had two. McKone tallied three assists while Scane, Coykendall and Elle Hansen all set up their teammates twice apiece.

The Cats again dominated Rutgers in shots, this time taking 38 shots to Rutgers’ 27. NU won 18 of 30 draw controls and picked up 16 ground balls to RU’s 14. The one area that the Scarlet Knights bested the Cats in was turnovers, with Northwestern coughing it up 13 times and Rutgers only turning it over 11 times. Doucette tallied nine saves in 48 minutes, and Lillie had two, coming out to 11 saves and seven goals allowed for the Cats. Sophia Cardello allowed 12 goals and tallied three saves for Rutgers before being pulled 20 minutes in, though her replacement Alonna Gliksman didn’t fare much better, allowing nine goals while saving three balls herself.

Northwestern now prepares for one of its biggest series of the season, as it will host No. 9/10 Maryland (5-1, 5-1 B1G) next Saturday and Monday.