UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 5 Rutgers field hockey claimed another signature victory on Friday afternoon, taking down No. 4 Penn State by a 1-0 margin. The victory marked RU's eighth ranked win of the season, with six of them coming on the road, three against top-10 teams, and two against top-five foes (No. 3 Northwestern and No. 4 Penn State).

Rachel Houston scored the lone goal for RU. Gianna Glatz excelled between the pipes, making a season-high eight saves. The shutout was Rutgers' fourth of the year, and second consecutive.

The game was tight throughout, with Rutgers outshooting the Nittany Lions 12-11 and Penn State hold the margin in corners (12-8). Rutgers defense came up big at the end of the game to win it, holding out a series of late Penn State corners.

Rutgers put pressure on the Penn State side early, although the first quarter concluded without any scoring. In the first frame, RU held the advantage in shots (4-1) and corners (2-1).

In the second quarter, neither team pressured until late in the frame. Penn State earned a trio of successive corners, but Gianna Glatz made back-to-back sliding saves to keep the Nittany Lions off the board. At halftime, the score was even at 0-0.

Early in the third quarter, it was RU that broke the ice. Rachel Houston scored just three minutes into the second half and gave the Scarlet Knights a 1-0 advantage.

Gianna Glatz excelled in goal in the third quarter to keep PSU off the board, making four saves in the frame. After 45 minutes, the Scarlet Knights held their grip on a 1-0 advantage.

Rutgers kept the pressure up in the fourth quarter, but Penn State turned aside two quality shot attempts on late corners.

In the game's final minute, Penn State earned a trio of corners. Rutgers defense stood tall and cleared out the trouble to ensure the victory.

Rutgers and Penn State represent two of the six Big Ten teams ranked in the Big Ten. The top league in the nation, the Big Ten's teams will descend upon Piscataway from November 4-7 for the Big Ten Tournament. Tickets are on sale now. 

The game represented RU's lone contest this weekend. Rutgers is back home for two games next weekend, with four of the next six games coming at home. The Scarlet Knights host No. 8 Maryland on Friday for the team's PRIDE game (3 p.m.), then welcome Columbia at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

With the Win

• The victory was Rutgers' eighth ranked win of the season, a program record.
• It was the team's sixth ranked win of the year, also a program record.
• The Scarlet Knights claimed their second top-five win of the year after previously knocking off No. 3 Northwestern. It represented the second straight season RU claimed two top-5 wins.
• The win was RU's third top-10 win of the year. All three have come on the road. It was the second straight season Rutgers claimed at least three wins over teams in the top-10.
• Rutgers has now won three straight games against Penn State, after sweeping a weekend set against then-ranked No. 9 PSU last season.

Postgame Notes

• Houston's goal was her second of the season, tying her previous career-high, which was set as a freshman in 2019. She also reached six points on the season, representing a new career-high.
• Gianna Glatz made a season-high eight saves.
• Glatz had eight saves, giving her 314 for her career and moving her past Rosalyn Wentko (RU 2004-07) for sixth place all-time in program history.
• Rutgers used a starting lineup of Gianna Glatz, Liz Romano, Iris Langejans, Kerrie Burns, Gianna Mancini, Katie Larmour, Milena Redlingshoefer, Guillermina Causarano, Kassidy Shetler, Rachel Houston and Lucy Bannatyne for the fourth straight game.