Rutgers Field Hockey Season Review
Nov 16 | Field Hockey
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Nov. 16, 2010) –The Rutgers field hockey team wrapped up a successful 2010 campaign with a loss to Syracuse in the BIG EAST Championships. The Scarlet Knights, who were competing in their first BIG EAST Tournament since 2003, ended the 2010 season with an 8-12 record.
“I feel like I can look at our roster and say that every player has improved,” said head coach Liz Tchou. “A lot of players stepped up their game. Every player I can safely say improved throughout. I think that there was really good chemistry on the field and even though we had a lot of freshmen, it didn’t really matter because everyone worked really well together.
RU opened its season going up against a difficult schedule and despite a 1-8 record, RU went into the second half of its season with confidence and a belief that they could make the BIG EAST Tournament.
“I think it took us a little while to integrate the team chemistry on the field, but we learned a lot during that time,” Tchou said. “We played some of the best teams in the country and it really prepared us for the BIG EAST.”
The turning point for RU seemed to come in its BIG EAST matchup with rival Villanova. After a scoreless first half, the Scarlet Knights erupted for four goals, two of which came off the stick of junior Nicole Gentile (Jamison, Pa.), to down the Wildcats 4-2.
“The Villanova game was one of the most rewarding wins that I’ve ever experienced with a team,” said Tchou. “The team worked their tails off and every player on the field was a leader, which was really cool to see.”
RU took its momentum from the VU match into the following weekend as they squeaked out a 2-1 win at West Chester behind two more goals from Gentile. For her efforts, Gentile was named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week for the week of Sept. 27.
In their next contest, RU dropped a heartbreaker to Georgetown in overtime, 4-3.
“The Georgetown game was a wakeup game for us,” said Tchou. “After that game we really had to look at ourselves in the mirror and our kids just took that game and really started to compete better.”
Following the loss to the Hoyas, RU won three of its next four matches, including a key BIG EAST win over Providence. In the contest with the Friars, RU used a solid defensive effort, which included defensive saves by Christie Morad (Marlton, N.J.) and Laura Rose (Washington Township, N.J.) and five timely saves from Sarah Stuby (Roxbury, N.J.), and another game-winner from Gentile to take control of its BIG EAST Tournament destiny.
“As a group and a team, we played tough defensively which is something we haven’t done in the past,” said Tchou after the win. “It’s a testament to the team to shutout Providence, showing how much they truly wanted it.”
Following a loss to Stanford and a pair of shutout victories over Columbia and Bucknell, the Scarlet Knights headed to Storrs, Conn. with a chance to clinch the squad’s first BIG EAST Tournament berth since 2003. RU could not overcome a strong offensive performance from the Huskies, falling in their regular season finale. Despite the loss RU was able to qualify for the Tournament thanks to losses by Villanova and Georgetown.
“The UConn loss was a hard loss for us because we thought we could pull the upset,” Tchou said. “We got off the field and had to wait and see how Georgetown and Villanova did and fortunately things fell into place for us.”
RU would be matched up with BIG EAST regular season champion Syracuse in the first round of the BIG EAST Tournament.
“After we found out we were in, we vowed to put our best effort forward at practice in the week leading up to the tournament,” Tchou said. “We had some really good practices and went into the tournament with a lot of confidence.”
In their tournament matchup with the Orange, the Scarlet Knights put forth a solid effort but eventually fell to the eventual tournament champions by a score of 4-1.
Despite the loss, the future looks bright for the RU program, as they will return 18 letterwinners and 10 starters, including its leading goal scorer and point getter.
“We had a lot of people who from last year to this year really improved. It’s tough to mention everybody, but I know that we’re in good hands with the team we have now,” Tchou said. “We only graduate two players. We’re going to miss Heather Garces (Cream Ridge, N.J.) and Jenna Bull (Oakville, Ontario), but with the players we have now it’s really exciting because we reached our goal of being in the BIG EAST Tournament. All of them experienced that and we are looking forward to experiencing it again next year.”
