Oct. 14, 2016
Box Score
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers field hockey fell to Michigan State (6-8, 2-3) on Friday afternoon. The Scarlet Knights (7-6, 1-4) held a 3-1 second half lead, but the Spartans scored the last three goals. RU battled to the finish, including an un-timed penalty corner at the end of the game, but were unable to score an equalizer.
Rutgers had three different goal scorers on the day in Sofia Walia, Linde van Schaik and Sarah Regn. RU had a 27-13 advantage in shots (18-6 in shots on goal) and had 18 penalty corners to seven for MSU.
"In Big Ten play, every game is a dogfight," head coach Meredith Civico explained. "That's the fun part about the league, it's so competitive. Michigan State just had that fight today. I thought the team really tried to come back. They were trying to make adjustments, and I have to give them a lot of credit for the fight. At the end of the day, we didn't execute our opportunities. We can play great hockey, but if we don't score goals, we don't get the results. I absolutely believe in this team's ability to compete and win in the Big Ten, so I'm excited for to show what we're capable of at Ohio State Sunday."
MSU got on the board first in the opening half, but Rutgers struck right back. RU earned a penalty stroke and Walia converted to even the game. van Schaik also tallied in the first stanza, following up after her initial shot was blocked to send home a strike that gave RU a 2-1 halftime lead.
In the second half, van Schaik had a shot saved, but Regn collected the ball, turned, and fired a shot in for a 3-1 lead. However, the visitors came right back down the field and scored, and followed that with two more tallies to take a 4-3 lead with 10 minutes to play. Rutgers continued to push at the goal, but were unable to find another score.
Amanda Lamb had two saves in the game for RU, while MSU's Katie Miller made 13 stops to earn the win.
Next up for Rutgers is a trip to Ohio State. The game is Sunday at 1 p.m., and can be viewed on a live stream here.
Postgame Notes
van Schaik now has sole possession of the team lead with eight goals. She has a team-high eight points in Big Ten play (team-high 19 overall).
Walia's goal was her first since scoring twice against William and Mary on September 4.
Michigan State's lead in the all-time series is now 8-3-1.
With a RU win at Ohio State on Sunday, the Buckeyes cannot finish higher than Rutgers in the standings in case of a head-to-head tie.
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