No. 7 Rutgers field hockey looks toward weekend home stand against Iowa, Indiana
Following three victories against ranked opponents on the road, the No. 7 Rutgers field hockey team is settling in for two home matches.
Friday’s game against No. 1 Iowa is the last in a streak of seven ranked matchups that featured just one loss for the Scarlet Knights (8-1, 1-0). The matchup on Sunday against Indiana will wrap up the quick homestand.
No other Big Ten team has one loss, but two have yet to lose. The Hawkeyes (10-0, 2-0) are one of them.
Iowa is outscoring opponents 43-4 and has not given up a goal since late August in a game against North Carolina. In part, that is due to Grace McGuire. In 10 starts, McGuire has surrendered only 4 goals, all in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
She boasts a 0.40 goals against average. Her 24 saves put her at an 85.7% save percentage. McGuire is riding an eight-game shutout streak and has played every minute of the season.
Shoring up the defense is last week’s Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week Anthe Nijziel. She has 1 goal, three helpers and 25 shots — good for second on the team.
More than a third of the Hawkeyes’ 43 goals came from Ellie Holley and Ciara Smith as the duo has a combined 15 goals. Additionally, Holley leads the team with seven assists. Maddy Murphy has 3 goals on 30 shots, the highest for Iowa, while Holley has 24 shots.
The last time the teams matched up was in the spring of 2021, and the Hawkeyes claimed a 1-0 win.
Two days after the matchup with Iowa gets underway, Rutgers will line up against the Hoosiers (6-4, 0-2). Indiana started the season on a three-game winning streak, including a win against No. 21 Miami of Ohio. Since early September, the Hoosiers haven’t been able to string together two victories.
Opponents outscore Indiana 18-15. Arabella Loveridge has been getting the majority of reps between the pipes. She has given up 14 goals and brought in 18 saves.
Kira Curland is atop the Hoosiers with 4 goals and 20 shots with 13 on goal. Sofia Arrebola Garcia and Yip van Wonderen have three assists apiece.
Last spring, the Knights blanked Indiana 3-0. Rutgers holds the overall record 8-2.
The Knights have two players with 4 goals, senior midfielder Milena Redlingshoefer and freshman midfielder/forward Lucy Bannatyne. Another two players have 3 goals, senior back Kerrie Burns and senior midfielder Gianna Mancini. Seven more players have found the back of the net, and nine have added assists. Freshman midfielder/forward Guillermina Causarano is a part of both categories.
Last week, Causarano was crowned Big Ten Freshman of the Week after scoring her first collegiate goal that turned into the game-winning goal against No. 20 Monmouth. Rutgers has had three recipients of the honor this year, including Bannatyne.
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