PISCATAWAY, NJ- Monmouth University Women's Lacrosse (3-2) junior Nicole Ceraso (Massapequa, NY/Plainedge) tallied a career-high five goals but it wasn't enough to overcome in-state rival Rutgers University (4-3) Tuesday night at HighPointSolutions.com Stadium.
 
Rutgers scored seven unanswered goals to break a 7-7 tie and take a commanding lead over the Hawks. Monmouth scored four goals in the second half but couldn't complete the comeback, despite the career-high by Ceraso and a trio of goals from junior Allison Turturro (Sound Beach, NY/Miller Place). The Hawks got within four on a Caroline Bleck (Farmingdale, NY/Farmingdale) goal but the Scarlet Knights netted two late goals to put the game out of reach. Rutgers' Sam Budd scored a career-high seven goals to lead all scorers.  
 
Rutgers pulled ahead with a 3-0 lead early in the first half but Ceraso and the Hawks battled back to tie the game at 7-7 with just over three minutes to go in the half. The Scarlett Knights were able to get a pair of late goals to take a 9-7 lead into the locker room.
 
Notes & Quotes
"It really came down to the first 3 minutes of the second half tonight. We went down by 5 right out of the half and we don't have the luxury of that kind of setback. It is again a reminder that we need to play a full 60 minutes. With that said there were a couple of really good things that happened tonight. Our draw unit stepped up and made some big changes coming off a set back against Army. And Nicole Ceraso was incredible from start to finish tonight. She was a threat in every aspect of the game and it's very exciting to see another part of her game coming together." Head Coach Jordan Trautman

• Ally Turturro tallied her third hat trick of the season and her first in two games for MU
• It is the second straight game in which Monmouth allowed a seven-goal run
• The 18 goals were the most given up by the Hawks through five games this season and the most given up since the Niagara game a season ago
• Ceraso scored five goals on six shots in the contest. She finished with seven points
• MU netminder Riley Brager made 11 saves in the contest

Numbers Crunch

• Rutgers outshot Monmouth 44-36
• Monmouth was a perfect 18-for-18 in clear attempts
• Each team had 12 turnovers in the contest
• Rutgers held a slight edge 17-16 in draw controls
• Rachel Mills had a career-high three caused turnovers in the contest
• Turturro won eight draw controls to go along with her four goals
• Rutgers's Taralyn Naslonski had seven draw controls to go with her four goals in the win

 
Up Next
Monmouth wraps up its four-game road stand with a 1 PM game on Saturday against LIU Brooklyn.