PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 13 Rutgers field hockey will close out the regular season with a pair of home games this weekend. RU plays No. 7 Iowa on Friday as part of Stick it to Cancer Day, and then host senior day on Sunday afternoon against American. Both games will be streamed live on BTN Plus. The Scarlet Knights will have a pregame ceremony honoring the two seniors on the team, Nikki Profita and Linde Van Schaik, in addition to senior manager Megan Cunningham, for Senior Day on Sunday.

The Scarlet Knights are 11-4 on the season overall and 3-4 in the Big Ten. The team has seven shutouts on the season, which is tied for the most in the nation, and eight defensive saves, which is tied for second in the nation.

"We need to focus on being disciplined for all 70 minutes, moving the ball quickly and keeping our structure going into Friday's matchup," head coach Meredith Civico said. "We want to stay focus on our style of hockey and do that each game, starting Friday against a really good Iowa team. It's going to be a grudge match. There's a lot on the line for us, but we're going to focus on us and what we can control, and be ready for battle."

Daphne Groothuis is third in the nation and second in the Big Ten in assists per game (0.80), while Linde Van Schaik is ninth in the Big Ten (0.47). Groothuis is also seventh in the nation and best in the conference in points per game (2.27), while Van Schaik is eighth in the conference (1.40). Gianna Glatz has a 0.785 save percentage which is seventh best in the nation and best in the Big Ten. Linde van Schaik has 20 points on the season, which is second best on the team behind Groothuis, who has 34. Senior Nikki Profita scored two goals against Indiana last week and is third on the team with 17 points.

Groothuis was just named Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week. Glatz was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week and national Defensive Player of the Week by the NFHCA. Additionally, van Schaik was selected for the NFHCA Division I Senior All-Star Game.

Iowa comes into the matchup 12-4 overall and 4-3 in the Big Ten. Rutgers will be their 10^th matchup this season against ranked opponents. UI is coming off a 2-1 loss against No. 2 Maryland and a 3-2 win against No. 6 Penn State last weekend. The Hawkeyes average 0.85 goals against per game which is best in the conference and fourth in the nation. Madeleine Murphy leads the team with 32 points on the season, and was Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week with Groothuis. Leslie Speight has 44 saves on the season.

RU is 2-6-1 all-time versus Iowa. The Scarlet Knights have won the last two games in the series, including a 1-0 win over then ranked No. 19 Iowa last season.

American enters the weekend 7-5 overall and 3-1 in the Patriot League. American will face Lafayette on the road on Saturday before facing RU on Sunday. The Eagles average 2.75 assists per game, which is 11^th in the nation and best in the conference. Noor Coenen leads the team with 19 points on the season. Maura Jacobs has 58 saves and 0.763 save percentage which is 13^th best in the nation.

The Eagles lead all-time series against RU 5-1, with the Scarlet Knights winning the last matchup, on the road in 2015.

  

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