Rowan opened up last year’s women’s lacrosse season with eight wins in a row, a program-best. This spring, it isn’t the same story in Glassboro.
That’s due to a, 13-11, loss the Profs took on Saturday afternoon at the Rowan Soccer & Lacrosse Complex to Muhlenberg. The Mules, like Rowan, are coming into 2026 after the program’s best season last spring, and plenty of returning pieces.
Rowan fell in multiple categories to the Mules, perhaps most notably on the draw circle. The Profs controlled seven balls off the draw circle, while Muhlenberg tallied 15.
“I just don’t see any grit on our draw circle,” head coach Lindsay Delaney said. “I don’t see us attacking the ball and making a commitment. Until we do that, that’s what it’s going to look like.”
Rowan scored the first goal of the game from Alexis Lowry, taking the 1-0 lead just 42 seconds into the game. At the 10:42 mark in the opening quarter, Muhlenberg found their equalizer on a bottom-shelf score from Ava Milia. Alyssa Hartnett found the back of the cage just 27 seconds later.
After that, a penalty on Rider transfer Madison Rothwein put Muhlenberg on the power play, which allowed the Mules to tally two more goals from returning Centennial Conference second-teamer Emma Youngling and Hartnett to put Muhlenberg up, 4-1.
The Mules held onto that lead until back-to-back goals from senior Yasmin Harris, who scored at both the 8:42 and 5:25 mark to make the score 6-5, then 6-6.
Harris struck again with 36 seconds left in the first half for a three-goal quarter. The tally of three goals for Harris ties her career high, set last year against Montclair State.
At halftime, the Mules led 8-7, an advantage they never gave up.
Alyssa Hartner scored 1:31 into the second half to push the lead to two. Freshman Jane Sorger tacked on another at the 11:23 mark in the third quarter to make it three.
Down 11-8, Corson got a pass from Rothwein and fired at the top right corner of the cage, scoring her 199th career goal, and cutting the deficit to two. 1:54 later, she bounced one past Muhlenberg goalkeeper Meagan Haughney to become the second Rowan Prof to score 200 goals, joining Becca Wood from 2013.
“We played together all preseason, worked really hard and we really prepared for this game coming in,” Corson said. “I did score my 200th goal, but a win would’ve been nice too. … I definitely don’t think they were better than us, but we didn’t play to the potential that we had. Our shot selection wasn’t great, our moving the ball wasn’t great. I think that’s really what stopped us from scoring.”
Something else stopping Rowan from scoring was Haughney, who made 16 saves, a career-high.
“Coming into this game, we knew she was a lefty, so we repped that out at practice,” Corson said. “She just kept stuffing us, and we didn’t change. That’s kind of on us.”
The defense that Rowan saw in the fourth-quarter at Lebanon Valley College in the season opener was the same defensive scheme that Muhlenberg played all game on Saturday afternoon. In Delaney’s eyes, there was one key difference.
“They didn’t play scared against [Lebanon Valley],” she said. “But when you played scared and you’re not prepared and you don’t want to be the one to make a difference, then this is what happens. They just played scared all across the field. We had multiple opportunities to get the ball and put the ball back up. We just didn’t.”
The loss serves as an early season lesson for a team that didn’t see a loss in regulation until the regular season finale last spring.
“We have to [move on],” Delaney said. “They have to play better. They have to choose, it’s a choice. Winning is a choice. It is a choice you actually have to fundamentally make. Until you learn that, then you’re not going to win.”
Rowan will face Ursinus on Wednesday at 4 p.m., back on their home field against an undefeated Bears team.
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