ABINGTON, Penn. (March 14, 2019) – The Rutgers University-Camden lacrosse team waited 12 days through three postponements to open its season, but the wait proved to be worth it for the Scarlet Raptors here Thursday afternoon.
 
Rutgers-Camden raced to an 11-6 halftime lead and went on to defeat Penn State-Abington, 20-9, in a non-conference game, marking the third straight year the Scarlet Raptors have won their season opener. The 20 goals were the most by the Scarlet Raptors since a 21-10 victory over Gwynedd Mercy University on April 27, 2017.
 
Rutgers-Camden, 1-0 on the season, improves to 5-1 in its all-time series against the Nittany Lions, including four straight wins. Penn State-Abington falls to 0-3 on the season.
 
The Raptors outshot the home team, 39-24, in the game, including 22-14 in the opening half. The teams traded a pair of early goals, with senior midfielder Cara Racobaldo getting the Scarlet Raptors on the board with the first goal of the season only 1:36 into the contest. Penn State countered with a free position goal by Jillian Stokes at 3:28 before the Scarlet Raptors ran off four straight goals to take the lead for good. 
 
That four-goal run was bookended by freshman midfielder Carly Gregg, who had a huge collegiate debut with six goals and one assist for seven points. Gregg scored the go-ahead goal only 4:02 into the contest, giving the Raptors a 2-1 lead. Freshman midfielder Jazmin Torres made it a 3-1 game with her first collegiate goal, aided by the first assist from freshman midfielder Claire Gailliout. Racobaldo and Gregg closed out the run with goals, giving Rutgers-Camden a 5-1 lead and four goals in a span of 2:30.
 
After Penn State's Kiera O'Keeffe cut the gap to 5-2, Torres, Gregg and Racobaldo helped the Raptors rattle off three straight goals in a span of 1:22, making it an 8-2 game. Penn State never got closer than five goals (8-3, 10-5 and 11-6) the rest of the way.
 
While Gregg was notching six goals and seven points, Torres was pouring in five goals and Racobaldo was adding four. Gailliout collected three goals and one assist in her first collegiate game, while freshman attack Hailey Egan added two goals. Sophomore attack Demi Albertini had a team-high two assists.
 
Torres added a team-high seven draw controls and contributed four ground balls and two caused turnovers. Junior defender Kacie Walton notched five ground balls to lead the Raptors, while adding three draw controls and one caused turnover. Racobaldo had six draw controls, Egan and Albertini both notched three round balls and Gregg led the club with three caused turnovers.
 
Melissa Felicetti had three goals for the Nittany Lions.
 
Anchoring the Raptors' defense in goal was sophomore Brittany Watson, who made six saves. Penn State goalie Cheyanne Grumm had 12 saves.
 
The Scarlet Raptors return to action Friday when they host Purchase College at 4 p.m. in their home opener.