PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers field hockey hits the road this weekend for the first time in the 2017 season. The Scarlet Knights will be at Penn on Friday afternoon, followed by a neutral site game against #23 Old Dominion at the University of Maryland.

The Scarlet Knights opened the season with two home wins, downing defending MAC champion Kent State 4-1, and following that up with a 9-0 victory over Towson. The Scarlet Knights 13 goals pushed them to the top of the nation's leaders as the top scoring offense in the country.

Within that goal total, 11 of the 13 goals were scored by newcomers. Redshirt sophomore Austyn Cuneo (a transfer from UNC) and freshman Daphne Groothuis led the way with three goals, while freshmen Gianna Mancini and Gracey Butsack also tallied twice. After her hat trick against Towson, Groothuis was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week. She shares the Big Ten lead in points (seven) with teammate Linde van Schaik. RU also started a freshman between the pipes, as Gianna Glatz had a 2-0 record as the starting goalkeeper, notching a .900 save percentage and 0.67 goals-against-average.

Penn will host the Scarlet Knights for their season opener. The Quakers were 11-6 last season and tie for third place in the Ivy League. They return nine starters for this season, including three All-Ivy selections in Alexa Hoover, Paige Meily and Alexa Schenk. Rutgers holds an 8-6-1 advantage in the lifetime series.

Old Dominion comes into the game ranked No. 23 in the nation, but suffered a loss to No. 19 James Madison on Wednesday night that went into penalty strokes, falling to 1-2. All three of their opponents thus far have been ranked, with a win over No. 21 American. Alexa Ostoich leads them with three goals and eight points. RU is 0-4 lifetime against the Monarchs. Sunday's game will take place at the University of Maryland, the alma matter of RU head coach Meredith Civico.
 
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