Rutgers women’s lacrosse ‘excited’ for NCAA Tournament return: ‘We can play with anyone in the country’
· Yahoo Sports
The first floor of the Rodkin Center was filled on Wednesday afternoon to send off the most successful team at Rutgers this spring.
Members of the men’s lacrosse team lined the hallway walls while head coaches Steve Pikiell (men’s basketball), Brian Brecht (men’s lacrosse) and Mike O’Neill (women’s soccer) stood in the lobby alongside dozens of other athletics employees awaiting the women’s lacrosse team.
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As the Scarlet Knights made their way out of the building and towards the bus that will drive them down to Maryland — where they will face in-state rival Princeton in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday — they all cheered while waiving pom-poms, matching the excitement the team showed when it saw its name on ESPN during Sunday’s selection show.
The Rutgers women’s lacrosse team gets a nice send-off before heading to College Park for the NCAA Tournament: pic.twitter.com/E9STopTG6o
— Brian Fonseca (@briannnnf) May 6, 2026
“Watching your name on the screen, it was so much fun, almost indescribable,” senior captain Katie Buck, who starred locally at Moorestown High School, said. “I’m just really just so proud of the people around me because we’ve really seen what it took to get to where we were and it was anything but easy.”
The Scarlet Knights are back in the postseason for the third time under head coach Melissa Lehman after reaching the NCAA Tournament during the 2021 and 2022 seasons, and the feeling from Lehman and her players was universal: “We couldn’t be more excited,” senior Lily Dixon said.
The current senior class arrived immediately following those NCAA Tournament runs, and after coming close on a pair of occasions, they broke through this spring with a strong season. Playing one of the hardest schedules in the country, the Scarlet Knights (10-8, 4-4) earned enough wins to overcome a late-season skid (three straight losses) and earn an at-large bid.
“We’ve had some good wins the past couple years, but it hasn’t ultimately gone our way,” Dixon said. “All of our hard work, especially for my senior class, we went through so much adversity and I think these past three years have made us better (players) and made us better leaders to carry this young talented talented team to the NCAA Tournament.”
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.
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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