PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Manhattan women's lacrosse team fell victim to an early deficit and was unable to make a comeback as they fell 15-5 at Rutgers (1-0) on Sunday afternoon. Despite cutting the lead to two, Rutgers outscored the Jaspers (0-1) 10-2 in the second half.
An inauspicious first half began when the Scarlet Knights jumped out to an early five goal lead. With 23:33 to play in the first, Katrina Martinelli started the scoring. Rutgers would add two more in the next 1:32 to take a three goal advantage. Annie McGinley and Martinelli would go back-to-back with a pair of goals to make the score 5-0 Rutgers with 17:10 remaining in the half.
From there, the Jaspers looked to turn things around as freshman Stefanie Ranagan finished a brilliant feed from Donna Jo DiNorcia to get Manhattan on the board. They would continue an offensive attack, forcing multiple fouls on the Knights. Carly Eskenazi was the biggest beneficiary, scoring twice on free-position shots to cut the deficit to 5-3 with 11:49 to play until halftime.
Both squads were stifled by the opposing defense the remainder of the frame with Rutgers creating turnovers while Christina Fiorinelli was excellent in goal. The sophomore made five or her nine saves in the first half, including a point-blank stop as time expired going into the break.
In the second half, Rutgers started off much the way they began the contest. Stephanie Anderson scored just 32 seconds into the frame before Clare Kerrisk answered for the Jaspers. From there, the Scarlet Knights scored nine of the next ten goals including two from Anderson and three from Martinelli. Megan Yarusso notched the only other goal for Manhattan.
Both Anderson and Martinelli each had five goals for Rutgers, with Martinelli adding three assists, while Manhattan was led by Eskenazi who scored twice. The Jaspers were outshot 34-12 in the game and turned the ball over 22 times while only forcing 14. The Scarlet Knights were able to win 13 of the 22 total draw controls and picked up 21 ground balls to Manhattan's 11. Rutgers starting goalie Lily Kalata made three saves in the first half, earning the win, with Aimee Chotikul playing the second half making two saves.
Manhattan has twelve days before their next game, as they open up their home schedule on Feb. 22 when the Jaspers host Wagner at Gaelic Park.