No. 9 Rutgers field hockey splits weekend slate against Monmouth, UConn
The Rutgers field hockey team took both a win and a loss this weekend in two competitive matchups. The Scarlet Knights (2-1, 0-0) started their weekend with a double overtime road win against Monmouth before dropping a home contest against UConn.
No. 9 Rutgers started the weekend on Friday with its first road trip of the season down to West Long Branch.
The Knights took an early lead against the Hawks (3-1, 0-0) when graduate student forward Kara Heck put Rutgers on the board with her 2nd goal of the season, assisted by sophomore back Olivia Beattie.
The Knights extended their lead with a goal from redshirt junior midfielder Vicky Jure in the second quarter.
Monmouth got on the board in the closing minutes of the third with Milla Frye coming up with a penalty stroke goal.
The Hawks erased their deficit with less than five minutes to play in the game, tying things up at 2-2 and forcing overtime.
The score stayed deadlocked after an extra 10-minute period, but Rutgers would come up big in the next period.
Senior midfielder Paulina Niklaus was the hero for the Knights, scoring her 1st goal of the season in the opening minutes of the second overtime period and securing the 3-2 victory.
Rutgers then traveled back home to host the Huskies (4-0, 0-0) on Sunday, a game that would prove to be a tough contest.
The first half stayed scoreless, with most of the game being controlled by UConn.
The Huskies made it difficult for the home team by keeping a fast pace and controlling the time of possession.
The 0-0 stalemate was broken around the halfway point of the third quarter when Sophie Perschk scored on a penalty corner, putting UConn on top 1-0.
The Knights fed off of the new, heightened tempo of the match and evened up the score right before the buzzer sounded to end the third. Jure was the goal scorer for the second time this weekend, scoring a beautiful stroke assisted by senior midfielder Guillermina Causarano.
Tensions stayed high throughout the rest of the match, down to the final seconds.
The Huskies broke through with around 30 seconds left in the final frame with a goal from Sol Simone to make the score 2-1.
Rutgers had several corner chances in the final 10 seconds of the game but could not convert them into goals, ultimately falling to UConn.
Despite the team's grit this weekend, the Knights could not overthrow the highly competitive Huskies.
Head coach Meredith Civico spoke of how Rutgers plans to bounce back after the tough loss at home.
"I think a big focus for us going into the next game is just possession," Civico said. "There were some moments in this game where we got a little bit too eager to go forward when we should have possessed."
The Knights did not have their best game on Sunday but are looking to bounce back on Wednesday when they host top-15-ranked Saint Joseph's.
"We were a little bit of our own worst enemy in that game," Civico said of Sunday's contest. "(We're) coming ready to train and push each other to be ready for a game that we know is going to be intense."
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