Oct. 21, 2016
Box Score
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -Rutgers field hockey was unable to continue the momentum from a strong first half against No. 6 Penn State (13-2, 5-2 Big Ten), falling 4-1 on Friday afternoon. The Scarlet Knights (8-7, 2-5 Big Ten) got an early goal from senior Rachel Yaney.
"It thought it was a great first half," head coach Meredith Civico said. "We really dominated possession and the team really executed our game plan. We kind of had just a little drop in energy in the second half. They executed on set pieces, that's something we need to keep working on. I'm thrilled that we get to play Penn State and then Maryland next week before the tournament. These are two of the two programs in the country. It's showing us that we're right there. If we tweak a few things and execute a few opportunities, really limit errors, we're right there."
Rutgers got on the board in the opening five minutes of the game. Freshman midfielder Katie Larmour sent a long ball into the circle, where Yaney collected the pass and fired one past the goalkeeper for the early lead.
The Scarlet Knights had another great chance early in the half. Larmour and Yaney teamed up again for a 2-on-1 breakaway, but a defensive save from Skyler Fretz kept RU from adding to the lead. The home team held a 1-0 lead at halftime, outshooting PSU 5-3.
In the second half, the Nittany Lions stormed back and scored four goals to ensure the victory. Moira Putsch tied the game just five minutes into the second frame with a deflection in front of the net. Then Aurelia Meijer scored three times off of shots on penalty corners to give PSU the 4-1 win.
For the game, Penn State outshot RU 14-10. Rutgers had an 8-5 advantage in penalty corners. Freshman goalkeeper Amanda Lamb tied her career-high with six saves.
Next up for Rutgers is Senior Day Sunday at 1 p.m. against Richmond. RU will honor its eight seniors in a pregame ceremony starting at approximately 12:45 p.m.
Postgame Notes
Rachel Yaney's goal was the 21st of her career. That put her into a tie for 7th place all-time in Rutgers history.
Yaney set a new career-high with 16 points on the season and tied her career-high with six goals.
Yaney now has 50 career points, sitting just outside RU's all-time top-ten.
Freshman goalkeeper Amanda Lamb tied her career-high with six saves.
The Nittany Lions now lead the all-time series against RU 16-4-3.
