Rutgers field hockey sweeps weekend games
The fifth straight weekend of action for the No. 10 Rutgers field hockey team saw the most prolific win of its season, taking down No. 3 Northwestern 2-1 and adding to its best start since 2008 by beating No. 17 Princeton 3-1.
Last Friday’s matchup against the Wildcats (8-2, 0-1) in Evanston, Illinois was the Scarlet Knight's (8-1, 1-0) sixth win against a ranked opponent this season, a program-best.
After the first quarter, Rutgers posted four shots while Northwestern had three. The shutout was broken a minute before halftime when Northwestern found the back of the net after a blocked shot. After the first 30 minutes of play, the Knights held a 9-5 shot advantage.
Near the end of the third quarter, senior midfielder Gianna Mancini tied the game off a pass from freshman back Iris Langejans, her first collegiate point. Rutgers kept the Wildcats off the scoreboard in the third quarter.
Going into the fourth quarter with the score knotted up at 1-1, the Knights had seven penalty corners but weren’t able to convert any. That is, until their lone corner of the final frame.
Thanks to a pass from senior back Liz Romano and a deflection, senior midfielder Milena Redlingshoefer added to her team-high 16 points, with the go-ahead goal. Redlingshoefer’s goal was her fourth on the season and first goal that didn’t come from a penalty stroke.
Senior goalkeeper Gianna Glatz made two saves in her fifth victory of the season.
Glatz was back in goal Sunday when Rutgers took on the Tigers (3-5, 1-0).
Princeton attacked first, gaining a 1-0 lead just more than 2 minutes into the game. The lead held until nearly 4 minutes into the second quarter when Romano took a pass coming off a penalty corner and scored her first goal of the season. Redlingshoefer was credited with the helper.
Scoring another 2 unanswered goals in the third quarter, the Knights began to pull away. Senior forward Kassidy Shetler notched her second goal of the season and Redlingshoefer grabbed her second assist of the day.
Before the end of the quarter, Mancini scored her second goal of the weekend bringing the Rutgers lead to 3-1. Freshman midfielder Guillermina Causarano found her first career helper on the third and final goal.
In the victory, the Knights launched seven shots on goal while the Tigers had only one. Although none found twine, freshman midfielder Lucy Bannatyne led Rutgers with three shots. Redlingshoefer was the points leader for the Knights with two assists.
Rutgers plays its ninth ranked opponent next Friday when No. 2 Iowa comes to the Banks. The Knights have won seven of their eight ranked games. Rutgers then takes a one-game break from ranked opponents when it hosts Indiana on Sunday.
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