Field Hockey 2021 Season Review

Photo by: Ben Solomon

Dec 20 | Field Hockey

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Scarlet Knights set multitude of records in historic season

Without question, the fall 2021 Rutgers field hockey season was legendary. A sleeping giant that been building under the leadership of head coach Meredith Civico truly burst through onto the national scene in her 10^th season with a historic campaign.

Program Records

Wins: 19

Entering the season, Rutgers' program record for wins was 15, and the most wins under head coach Meredith Civico had been 13. In 2021, RU shattered that record, finishing the season 19-4.

Ranked Wins: 13

Rutgers claimed wins this season at No. 12 Duke, at No. 6 UConn, vs. No. 16 Syracuse, vs. No. 20 Monmouth, at No. 22 Delaware, at No. 3 Northwestern, at No. 17 Princeton, at No. 4 Penn State, vs. No. 8 Maryland, at No. 21 Ohio State, vs. No. 7 Penn State, vs. No. 2 Michigan, vs. No. 17 Delaware.

Dating back to 2004, the Scarlet Knights have 32 ranked wins. 29 of them have come over the past five seasons, with 26 of those over the past four years, signaling the continued improvement of the program under coach Civico.

Ranked Wins on Road: 7

The team's success carried to the road as well, winning at No. 12 Duke, at No. 6 UConn, at No. 22 Delaware, at No. 3 Northwestern, at No. 17 Princeton, at No. 4 Penn State and at No. 21 Ohio State

Top-10 Wins: 6

Amidst all the ranked wins were a number of highlights, as RU claimed six wins over top-10 teams (at No. 6 UConn, at No. 3 Northwestern, at No. 4 Penn State, vs. No. 8 Maryland, vs. No. 7 Penn State and vs. No. 2 Michigan). That group included the highest ranked team ever defeated (No. 2 Michigan), a win over the eventual national champions (No. 3 Northwestern) and the team's first victory over Maryland since joining the Big Ten, snapping a 23-year drought versus the Terps.

Big Ten Conference Wins: 6

Rutgers finished with a 6-2 mark in conference games, the best since joining the league in 2014-15. This led to the team's best finish in conference play, tying for second and earning the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.

Attendance: 1,617 fans attended the Big Ten Championship game in Piscataway, the largest crowd in the NCAA this season

It marked the largest crowd in NCAA Division I Field Hockey since 2018. The games played at Rutgers in the Big Ten Tournament represented five of the top six crowds in Division I NCAA Field Hockey this season.

Postseason Accomplishments

Big Ten Tournament Champions

An incredible moment in a season full of them, Rutgers won three games in four days on their home field to raise the Big Ten Tournament trophy. RU defeated Indiana, No. 7 Penn State and then No. 2 Michigan in succession to earn the first ever Big Ten Tournament title for any Rutgers athletic program. Kerrie Burns and Gianna Glatz were named to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team for spearheading a defensive led performance, with Kerrie Burns named the Big Ten Tournament MVP.

No. 1 overall seed in NCAA Tournament

After winning the Big Ten Tournament, the Scarlet Knights gathered that Sunday night to watching the NCAA Selection Show. As the bracket was revealed, RU was shown as the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. That was followed shortly after with the team's first ever No. 1 ranking in the NFHCA Coaches Poll.

NCAA Tournament Elite Eight

Rutgers headed to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018, making its fourth ever NCAA Tournament appearance. The Scarlet Knights hosted the Piscataway Regional and faced Delaware in the First Round. The team took down the Blue Hens, 2-1, claiming the team's first NCAA Tournament victory since 1986. Their third ever NCAA Tournament victory advanced the team into the Elite Eight, where the season ended with a heartbreaking shootout loss to No. 9 Liberty.

Program Accolades

All-Big Ten: 4

Big Ten Co-Player of the Year: Gianna Glatz
First Team All-Big Ten: Katie Larmour and Gianna Glatz
Second Team All-Big Ten: Kerrie Burns and Milena Redlingshoefer
Sportsmanship Award: Gianna Mancini

All-Region: 5

First Team: Kerrie Burns, Katie Larmour and Gianna Glatz
Second Team: Milena Redlingshoefer and Liz Romano

All-Americans: 2

First Team: Gianna Glatz
Second Team: Katie Larmour

Glatz earns her third career All-American recognition and marks the second straight season that she was named a First Team All-American. She was one of just two goalkeepers on the First Team. She is the first player in Rutgers' history to be twice named a First Team All-American and the first three-time All-American for RU since Andschana Mendes in 1999-2001. Larmour earned All-American recognition for the second straight year after being named First Team All-American last season. It marked the third straight season that RU had multiple All-Americans. Prior to 2019, there had not been multiple Scarlet Knights named All-Americans in the same season since 1986.

NFHCA Senior Team

Katie Larmour and Gianna Glatz

Academic All-Big Ten: 21

Katie Amanda Beck, Noelle Bessette, Kerrie Burns, Olivia Drea, Gianna Glatz, Rachel Houston, Sophia Howard, Lauren Kokoskie, Maggie Lamb, Katie Larmour, Gianna Mancini, Isabella Mancini, Bridy Molyneaux, Tayla Parkes, Elise Pettisani, Milena Redlingshoefer, Abby Regn, Liz Romano, Kassidy Shetler, Carly Snarski, Annie Walsh

Mid-Atlantic Region Coaching Staff of the Year

RU Coaches: Meredith Civico, Maddy Sposito, Ajai Dhadwal, Joey Civico

All-ECAC

Gianna Glatz: Defensive Player of the Year, First Team
Katie Larmour: First Team
Meredith Civico: Coach of the Year

Gallery: (12-20-2021) Field Hockey: Best of the 2021 Season

Seniors

With additional eligibility from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Scarlet Knights brought back a large group of impact senior for a fifth year 'On the Banks.' With so many senior contributions this season, the program had to hold two separate Senior Days.

'Super Seniors': Kerrie Burns, Gianna Glatz, Katie Larmour, Gianna Mancini, Kassidy Shetler

A tremendously talented group, this group included a trio of multi-year captains and leaders in Burns, Glatz and Larmour alongside long-time starters in Gianna Mancini and Kassidy Shetler.

The nation's best goalkeeper, Glatz set statistical bests with a 0.93 goals-against-average and .796 save percentage.

Larmour posted one goal and added five assists in her sixth year 'On the Banks'.

Burns keyed RU's defense while adding four goals and three assists to two defensive saves.

Mancini started 19 games and tied for fourth on the team with five goals and 11 points. Shetler started 18 games with three goals.

Four-Year Seniors: Noelle Bessette, Olivia Drea, Milena Redlingshoefer, Abby Regn, Liz Romano, Tayla Parkes

An impactful group, with four players seeing time as multi-year starters. The group included two all-region selections this season.

Redlingshoefer led the team in goals (eight), assists (12) and points (28). Romano started every game at center back while Parkes tied for fourth on the team with five goals and 11 points.

Returners

While RU boasted a tremendously impactful senior class, the program will bring back plenty of talented underclassmen.

RU got great contributions from a trio of freshmen that became fixtures in the starting lineup. Lucy Bannatyne tied for the team lead with eight goals, Iris Langejans started all 23 games at back and Guillermina Causuarano made 21 starts in the midfield. Each of them earned a Big Ten Freshman of the Week award.

Sophomore Bridy Molyneaux was third on the team with six goals, with five of those coming in the last seven games of the season.

Junior Rachel Houston started all 23 games at forward with three goals and three assists.

Amanda Beck (20 games played), Carly Snarski (20 games, two starts, two goals), Maggie Lamb (21 games played, two starts) and Isabella Mancini (12 games played, two starts) all were valuable role players for the team, contributing to the team's success.

Sophia Howard started the first two games of the season in goal and played in five overall with appearances in two shutouts. Noelle Leaf played in four games as true freshman, while other players took redshirt seasons.

The Scarlet Knights are well-positioned to keep the positive momentum from this historic season going and are positioned well for future success.