Rutgers women’s lacrosse ‘excited’ for NCAA Tournament return: ‘We can play with anyone in the country’

For Rutgers, the NCAA Tournament provides a chance for a revenge tour.

The Scarlet Knights were drubbed by the Tigers during their meeting in the regular season, falling 15-9 on the road. It marked their fifth consecutive loss to Princeton, who they have not defeated since the 2013 season. Rutgers has been outscored 77-47 in four meetings against the Tigers under Lehman.

“It’s always interesting when you get to play a team again,” Lehman said. “We’re very familiar with Princeton. ... The interesting thing is we played so early, in February, and here we are in May. In a lot of ways, we’re different. We’ve grown a lot, but we’ve really honed in on game planning. Looking back at our film from last time where we fell short, I think the biggest thing for us in our game plan, we have to be in control of the game ... For us, it’s really focused on every set, every play, the possession we have and playing 60 minutes.”

If the Scarlet Knights pull off the upset, they will face third-seed Maryland in the second round in another rematch. Rutgers fell to the Terrapins, 18-11, in College Park last month.

While it would be a tall task, the Scarlet Knights have a signature win to lean on for confidence. Their upset over No. 6 Michigan last month not only punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament, but it proved something to themselves.

“Right after Michigan, we were like: ‘we can play with anybody in the country,’” sophomore Caroline Ling said.

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No matter how it shakes out, the Scarlet Knights have clearly shown they are in the midst of their best stretch in program history. After reaching the NCAA Tournament once in its first 44 seasons, the women’s lacrosse program has reached three in its seven seasons under Lehman.

“This is so exciting, the success that we’ve had, but it’s really a lot of hard work,” Lehman said. “Kudos to the players on the team because we recruited them here for a reason: to chase excellence, to play to a high standard and that’s what they want. They have high goals. they want to compete for championships and I couldn’t be prouder.

“It’s a testament to the work, the high standards and then the culture that we’ve been able to build here at Rutgers. We feel that support from our administration, they believe we can win. ... I’m just so grateful to be here and we’re just going to continue working. We can’t wait to get our opportunity on Friday.”

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