PISCATAWAY, N.J. (March 14, 2008) – Freshman attacker Kristen Anderson (Wading River, N.Y.) scored the game-winning goal on a beautiful assist from Megan Flanagan (Medford, N.J.) with under three minutes to play, as Rutgers came from three down to defeat Louisville 13-12 at the RU Turf Field on Friday evening. The Scarlet Knights (2-4) won their second consecutive game and stopped the Cardinals (5-2) two-game winning streak.

"Our team battled for 60 minutes," said head coach Laura Brand. "It wasn't pretty at times but they got the job done. Louisville is a very athletic team but we were able to pull out a victory."

The first half started well for the Scarlet Knights. Flanagan tallied her fourth goal of the season in the 28th minute off a pass from Brooke Cantwell (Moorestown, N.J.). After Louisville tied the game at one, RU scored the next two goals and took a 3-1 lead. But the Cardinals scored six of the next seven goals to build a 7-4 advantage with 8:57 to go in the half. Sophomore Mary Cryan (Newtown Square, Pa.) scored unassisted in the seventh minute, and Rutgers went into half-time trailing 7-5.

RU scored the first goal of the second half as Michelle Poole (Long Valley, N.J.) found the back of the net for her second goal of the game. But Louisville tallied two consecutive scores to take its largest lead of the game at 9-6. Trailing by three, the Scarlet Knights mounted their comeback, scoring five consecutive goals to take an 11-9 lead. In that run, five different players scored for RU, capped off by Cryan's third goal of the evening. Louisville again battled back, tying the game at 12 with 2:58 to play. But Anderson scored her third goal of the game on Flangan's third assist with 2:24 to play, and RU was able to hold on when Bergan Foley's free-position shot with two seconds on the clock hit the post. Foley led all scorers with five goals.

"We have the talent to get the job done," said Brand. "We just have to learn how to play to win for the full 60 minutes, rather than playing not to lose."

Anderson, Poole and Cryan each scored a hat trick for the Scarlet Knights. Flanagan finished with three assists, giving her a team-high 10 on the season. Junior goalkeeper Sandra Abel (Monrovia, Md.) recorded 10 saves, her fifth consecutive game with 10 or more stops.

"Sandy is playing awesome for us right now," said Brand. "We named her ‘Game Knight' for her performance tonight. She played consistently well and she saved us a lot today."

Rutgers returns to action on Wednesday, March 19, when it travels to Hempstead, N.Y., to face Hofstra at 7:00 p.m.

* * * *

PISCATAWAY, N.J. First-year attacker Bergan Foley continued her scoring barrage with five goals as the University of Louisville lacrosse team dropped a 13-12 road decision to Rutgers on Friday night at the RU Turf Field.

The Scarlet Knights, who opened the season ranked in the preseason top 20 coaches poll, jumped out to an early 3-1 lead only to see the Cards (5-2) score three straight goals over a span of less than three minutes to take a 4-3 lead on Foleys first goal of the day with 15:41 left in the first half.

After the Scarlet Knights (2-4) evened things up at 4-4 with 12:33 remaining, the Cards scored three straight goals, including two more by Foley, to take a 7-4 lead with 8:57 left in the first. Rutgers would score the final goal of the half to cut the Louisville lead to 7-5 at halftime.

Rutgers opened the second half with a goal and the Cards responded with back-to-back goals by Foley and first-year midfielder Lianne Bobal to take a 9-6 lead with 19:44 left in the game. But the host Scarlet Knights answered the Cards challenge by scoring the next five goals to take an 11-9 lead with 10:22 to go.

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2008-03-15