PISCATAWAY, N.J. - No. 1 Rutgers field hockey is back in the NCAA Tournament. The Scarlet Knights are in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018 and just the second time since 1986. RU earned the No. 1 overall seed and will host the First and Second Round games at Bauer. The Scarlet Knights will play at 11 a.m. on Friday against No. 17 Delaware, the winner of the play-in game. The facility will also host a first round game at 1:30 p.m. between No. 9 Liberty and No. 11 St. Joe's, with the winners of those games facing off on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Rutgers is 18-3 overall and have won 10 of their past 11 games. The Scarlet Knights completed a magical run to a Big Ten Tournament Championship, winning three games in four days as tournament hosts. RU defeated Indiana, No. 7 Penn State and No. 2 Michigan to raise the trophy, the first Big Ten Tournament title for a Rutgers team since the University joined the league for the 2014-15 season. The team utilized the home field advantage, claiming the title in front of a record attendance of 1,617 screaming Rutgers fans.
Tickets are $5 for general admission, and can be purchased
here. They are free to claim for Rutgers students.
Parking is available for fans in the green or yellow lot on Livingston campus. A stream will be available on
B1G+ for free with Dom
Savino on the call. There will also be a radio broadcast available via WRSU, 88.7 FM with Eddie Kalegi and Shaun Nadkarni on the call.
The Scarlet Knights have set numerous program records / team firsts this season. A full listing is below.
- Far surpassed the previous program record for wins in a season, previously 15 in 1986
- 12 ranked wins
- 5 top-10 wins
- 7 ranked road wins
- 6 Big Ten Conference league wins
- Second place finish in the Big Ten
- First ever Big Ten Tournament victory
- First ever appearance in the Big Ten Tournament Championship Game
- First ever Big Ten Championship.
- A victory over Delaware would represent RU's first NCAA Tournament victory since 1986 and 13th ranked win of the season.
- Lucy Bannatyne has seven goals. With one more goal, she will record the most goals by RU freshman since joining Big Ten.
- Milena Redlingshoefer has 10 assists and 24 points. With one more assist, she will tie for 8th most in a single-season in RU history. With two more points, she'll tie for 10th most in a single-season in RU history.
- In her career, Redlingshoefer has 21 assists, tied for 7th all-time in program history. She needs two more to tie for 6th with Janel Hileman.
- Katie Larmour has 52 points in her career, tied for 12th all-time at RU.
- Gianna Glatz has started in seven shutouts, with five solo. Her career-best for solo shutouts in five. Glatz was the National Defensive Player of the Week last week after making the All-Tournament Team alongside Kerrie Burns.
- Rutgers is 16-1 at home over the past two seasons. RU was 10-1 this season and 6-0 last season. RU went 5-3 in 2019, winning the final two home games, and are looking to improve to 19-1 in their last 20 home games.
- Rutgers is in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in program history, and the first time as the host school.
- Previous appearances: 1984, 1986, 2018.
- The Scarlet Knights are 2-3 in NCAA Tournament play.
2018:
- Head coach Meredith Civico guided the team to a return to the NCAA Tournament. In that game, RU fell to UConn, 5-0.
- 10 players on the current team were on that 2018 squad, with seven seeing action in the game (Gianna Glatz, Kassidy Shetler, Kerrie Burns, Abby Regn, Milena Redlingshoefer, Tayla Parkes and Gianna Mancini).
- Liz Romano also played saw NCAA Tournament action in 2018, playing for UConn in the game against Rutgers.
1986
- Defeated Penn 3-2 in the first round. RU overcame a 2-0 deficit to earn a victory after overtime. The team then fell to No. 1 UNC.
1984
- Defeated Penn State in first round, 3-0. The team then fell to No. 3 Temple.
- The No. 17 Blue Hens defeated Fairfield in Wednesday's play-in game. Delaware led 3-0, then surrendered three straight goals, including one with 4.4 seconds left to go to overtime, where Delaware earned the win.
- After going 12-8 in the regular season and 5-1 in CAA play, the Blue Hens defeated James Madison to capture the CAA crown and automatic bid.
- Delaware is 9-10 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, winning the 2016 NCAA Championship.
- The team's previously met on September 19 at Delaware, with RU capturing a 2-0 win. RU was led by goals from Lucy Bannatyne and Kerrie Burns. Gianna Glatz made four saves to preserve the shutout.
- The Scarlet Knights victory in that game dropped Delaware to 2-6 in their first eight games. Since then, UD has won 11 of their past 13 games.
- Julia Duffhuis leads the team with 13 goals and 28 points.
- Goalkeeper Lizzie Gaebel has 1.75 goals-against-average and .684 save percentage.
- Rutgers and Delaware have played 33 times lifetime, with the Blue Hens holding a 20-10-3 advantage.
- Rutgers' Assistant Athletic Director of Events and Facility Scheduling Tory Sharpless, the Tournament Director for this weekend's NCAA Tournament site, was a four-year letterwinner and team captain as an undergraduate at Delaware field hockey, graduating in 2013.
- With a victory, Rutgers would face the winner of the game between No. 9 Liberty and No. 11 St. Joe's that follows their First Round matchup.
- St. Joe's went 16-4 overall, winning the Atlantic 10 Tournament Championship.
- RU previously faced St. Joe's this season, falling 2-1 on the road.
- Rutgers holds a 19-10 advantage in the all-time series with St. Joe's
- Liberty went 17-2 overall this season, defeating UConn to capture the first ever BIG EAST Tournament championship in program history for the affiliate member.
- The team set a program record for victories and makes its first NCAA appearance since 2014.
- The two programs have never met previously.
Rutgers stands two victories away from the Final Four. Future games will be hosted next weekend by the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich.
