PISCATAWAY, N.J. – In its Big Ten Conference opener, No. 23 Rutgers field hockey began league play on the winning side. The Scarlet Knights (6-3, 1-0) defeated Indiana 2-0 on Friday afternoon behind goals from freshman Gianna Mancini and sophomore Austyn Cuneo and a shutout by freshman goalkeeper Gianna Glatz to blank the Hoosiers (5-4, 0-2).

"It feels great to get our first Big Ten win," head coach Meredith Civico said. "The team was ready, focused and played to win today. We knew what we had to do against Indiana and their style of play. We were really happy that we were able to execute on attack penalty corners. I'm happy with the result today."

Rutgers outshot the Hoosiers 16-8 and held a 7-4 advantage in penalty corners. Glatz made four saves to earn the win, while Emily Howarth added a defensive save. IU goalkeeper Katie Johnson stopped 11 shots for the Hoosiers.

The Scarlet Knights opened the scoring 29 minutes into the contest. On a penalty corner, Cuneo's initial shot was saved. Freshman Gianna Mancini collected the rebound. Her initial shot was blocked by a defender, but she corralled the ball and sent it into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.

IU nearly tied the game on a flurry of chances early in the second half. Glatz made a series of saves, then Howarth cleared the ball off the backline to preserve the lead.

Later in the half, RU again executed on a corner to take a 2-0 lead. The corner was sent to Daphne Groothuis, who elected to push the ball to Cuneo. The back executed a drag flick into the top corner for the goal.

The Scarlet Knights had a number of good opportunities late in the game, but just couldn't add another goal. The home squad saw a diving save on a Groothuis shot, along with another Cuneo corner attempt sail just high among multiple chances to push their score higher. The team took command of the game and earned the shutout victory for the first league win of the season.  

"Even after the win the team was definitely not satisfied, which I think as a coach is a positive thing," Civico explained. "They were happy with a win but picked out somethings they wanted to focus on going into Sunday. There's some little details that will
make a big difference if we can get them right."

Next up for the Scarlet Knights is another home game on Sunday at noon. The team will host No. 19 Iowa for the conclusion of Alumni Weekend.

Postgame Notes

• Gianna Glatz had her first career solo shutout for her first conference win
• Mancini scored her third career goal in her ninth career game.
• Cuneo had her fourth goal of the season, setting a new career high.
• Howarth had her second defensive save of the season and her career.
• Rutgers now holds a 5-2-1 advantage lifetime over the Hoosiers.

 

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