PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers field hockey (4-1) used two first-half goals and a dominant defensive effort to shutout Michigan State (1-3), 2-0, in its 2021 home opener on Friday in Piscataway. Junior
Liz Romano and rookie
Liz-Elaine Stange tallied goals to help the Scarlet Knights earn their fourth consecutive win in the series with the Spartans.
RU's defense allowed just five shots and three shots on goal against MSU, as senior goalkeeper
Gianna Glatz registered three saves for her fourth win of the season.
"We really emphasized our attacking play this week in training," said head coach
Meredith Civico. "I was really pleased with how we were attacking through the midfield. We really wanted to put a lot of pressure on Michigan State in the very beginning and score early. We did really well with that piece of the game plan."
Rutgers got on the board first in the first quarter. After an attempt from junior
Tayla Parkes was blocked, senior
Kassidy Shetler kicked out a loose ball to Stange who buried her first-career goal to make it 1-0 Scarlet Knights with 1:09 left in the quarter. RU followed with another score in the second quarter, as redshirt senior
Katie Larmour and senior
Gracey Butsack set up Romano to put Rutgers up 2-0 with 9:30 left in the half.
The Scarlet Knights allowed just four shot attempts in the final 30 minutes to hold on to the win.
Rutgers closes its two-game series with Michigan State on Sunday at noon on BTN Plus.
