No. 2 Rutgers field hockey defeats No. 5 Maryland, Columbia in shutouts
For the third and fourth time in as many games, the No. 2 Rutgers field hockey team shut out their opponent, beating No. 5 Maryland 1-0 and Columbia 2-0 in a very successful weekend slate. Senior goalkeeper Gianna Glatz earned her 21st and 22nd career shutouts.
Friday’s victory against the Terrapins (10-5, 1-4) served as the Scarlet Knights’ (12-2, 4-1) third ranked Big Ten win this season and first against Maryland as a part of the Big Ten. “I’m really proud of the team and their overall performance,” said head field hockey coach Meredith Civico. “We’ve been working towards this moment, this season, for years.”
Rutgers mustered the only shot of the first quarter. The Terrapins controlled the offense in the next quarter, firing six shots, all of which were saved by Glatz.
Two and a half minutes into the second half, senior midfielder Milena Redlingshoefer scored her fifth penalty stroke goal of the season. Maryland failed to convert on any of its seven shots, three of which were saved by Glatz.
The Knights ended the quarter with five shots. The Terrapins had two shots in the final frame, and Glatz tied her career high in saves with 12.
“(Glatz) is just incredible. She’s an amazing leader and an amazing player,” Civico said. “The team has so much trust and confidence in her.”
Glatz’s success carried through the rest of the weekend when she made five saves on Sunday against the Lions (6-6, 0-4). Unlike Friday when it took several periods for Rutgers to produce shots, it started early in its second matchup of the weekend, recording 13 shots in 15 minutes while only surrendering three in that time. The Knights added four corners in that span as well.
A little more than halfway into the first quarter, sophomore forward Bridy Molyneaux scored her first goal of the year with an assist from Redlingshoefer.
"We knew we needed to score early, especially after a tough game and good win on Friday against Maryland,” Molyneaux said. "We were happy to get that goal early. We've been working together, that's when we're most successful.”
Rutgers didn’t let off in the next 15 minutes and recorded another five shots.
Offensive opportunities slowed down in the third quarter and the score remained the same until midway through the fourth quarter. Redlingshoefer notched her second point on the day and added to her team-high 6 goals when she converted on a penalty stroke.
That’s how the score remained for the winding minutes of the game and the Knights were able to extend their winning and shutout streaks to four games.
Rutgers hits the road this week for the second to last weekend of the regular season. First it faces No. 3 Michigan, and then later in the weekend it takes on No. 18 Ohio State.
“After such a hard game on Friday, we just focused on getting back to basics," said graduate student midfielder Katie Larmour. "We focused on looking after the ball, getting the simple things right, controlling the controllables and taking things into our own hands.”
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