Rutgers defeats Fairfield in opening exhibition
Aug 22 | Field Hockey
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (August 22, 2014) –Rutgers field hockey opened the 2014 season on Friday with an exhibition victory over Fairfield, as the Scarlet Knights won 3-0 at Bauer Track and Field Complex.
After a scoreless first half, the Scarlet Knights rallied for three goals in the second stanza. Sophomore Jasmine Cole (Montclair, N.J.) scored two goals while junior Katie Champion (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) also tallied a goal for Rutgers.
“I’m very happy with the level of execution from our attack today,” head coach Meredith Long said. “We worked a lot this week on finishing and creating opportunities in our attacking 25. It took us a little while to get going, but once we did, I was very happy with how the team played overall.”
Cole, a transfer from the University of Pennsylvania, scored the game-winner 48 minutes into the game off a feed from freshman Haley Meade (Freehold, N.J.). Late in the game, Champion intercepted a pass and found the back off the cage to add to the RU score. Just before the final whistle, Cole scored her second goal of the game on a deflection in front, with the assist to sophomore Kimberly Jevic (Voorhees, N.J.)
The Scarlet Knights have their final exhibition game on Monday, Aug. 25 as they will travel to Princeton. Rutgers’ first game and home opener is Friday, Aug. 29 against Bucknell.
“There’s going to be a lot from this scrimmage that we are going to take and fine tune heading into our second exhibition against Princeton,” Long said. “That should be a really great test for us. We have a few kinks to work out first, but I’m definitely looking forward to Monday.”
