No. 19 Rutgers field hockey records pair of wins over weekend
The Rutgers field hockey team spent the weekend collecting its first Big Ten win as well as a win in a home matchup with Delaware. The No. 19 Scarlet Knights (5-3, 1-0) beat Michigan State in an overtime battle to get the win on Friday in East Lansing, Michigan.
Rutgers struck first on Friday, giving the team the early 1-0 lead against the Spartans (4-2, 0-1) thanks to freshman midfielder Indy van Ek. Despite the team's early lead, Michigan State came back in the second period to tie the game, getting past Knights sophomore goaltender Sophia Howard.
After a stalemate third, the Spartans took the lead in the fourth quarter less than a minute in. Michigan State did a nice job of defending, keeping Rutgers from scoring and holding its lead late into the game.
Freshman back Puck Winter proved to be a difference for the team, netting her first collegiate goal. Winter evened the game in the last 5 minutes to send the match to overtime.
With less than half of the overtime period gone, the Knights were awarded a penalty stroke for an illegal defensive save by the Spartans. Junior back Iris Langejans made the penalty shot to end the game and give Rutgers the 3-2 victory in Michigan.
The Knights came out victorious once again today when they beat the No. 24 Blue Hens (1-7, 0-1) 5-4.
Rutgers struck in the 1st minute of play, giving the program an early lead. Junior forward Bridy Molyneaux got the scoring started with her 1st goal of the season.
Much of the game was back and forth between the two opponents. Delaware tied the game late in the first, just for the Knights to come back in the early second to retake their lead.
Once again, that lead was short-lived when Julia Duffhuis was awarded a penalty shot that would tie the game for the Blue Hens, who scored again in the second. At the end of the quarter, the score was 3-2 in favor of Delaware.
At the start of the third, Rutgers came out with a fire, scoring 3 goals uninterrupted. The Blue Hens tried to equalize the game, scoring once in the fourth, but their efforts came too late, and they could not get ahead of the Knights.
Rutgers will dive deeper into its conference schedule next weekend when the program takes on Ohio State and Michigan. The homestand will kick off this Friday at 3 p.m. at Bauer Field on Livingston Campus.
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