EVANSTON, Ill. – No. 19 Rutgers field hockey came up just short on the road Friday afternoon, falling 3-2 at No. 10 Northwestern. The Scarlet Knights (7-4, 2-1) got goals from junior midfielder
Linde van Schaik and freshman back
Kerrie Burns.
"In the first half we struggled to connect with our passing," head coach
Meredith Civico said. "The second half we played front-footed hockey with energy and our possession was much better. On attack, we weren't our usual fluid selves, but it was nice to execute two penalty corners. Overall we're disappointed with the performance and result, but I'm confident this group will bounce back as we prepare for another big weekend."
The Wildcats held a 14-7 advantage in shots and had seven corners to two for Rutgers.
Gianna Glatz made six saves in goal.
Northwestern scored first, 20 minutes into the opening half. The Wildcats took advantage of a penalty corner and Puck Pentenga put the ball home for a 1-0 lead.
That advantage held into the intermission. The home team outshot the Scarlet Knights 7-1 in the opening half.
NW tallied again 15 minutes into the second half. A turnover in the RU end jump started the Wildcats possession, leading to a series of passes to set up the tally.
Rutgers first goal came off a penalty corner.
Linde van Schaik inserted the ball, and it was passed along to
Austyn Cuneo. She fed the ball back to van Schaik at the post, who lifted the ball over the goalkeeper for the score.
The Wildcats scored their third goal off a penalty corner with eight minutes to play. The Scarlet Knights pushed forward and earned a corner of their own. The shot came from the top by Cuneo, and stationed in front of the net was freshman
Kerrie Burns.
Burns got her stick on the ball in front to deflect the ball in for her first career score. However, RU was unable to get a late equalizer, falling 3-2.
Rutgers next returns to the road next weekend for two games in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Scarlet Knights will played a pair of ranked opponents there in Michigan (Friday) and Stanford (Saturday).
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