PISCATAWAY, N.J. - No. 10 Rutgers field hockey will host its final two home games of the regular season as the Scarlet Knights welcome in No. 4 Northwestern for a two-game set. The game on Friday (1 p.m.) will be nationally televised by Big Ten Network, with Dean Linke and Jeanne Shin Cooper on the call. Sunday's game (noon) will be Senior Day, with a pregame ceremony to honor the team's lone graduating senior,
Gracey Butsack.
Rutgers enters the weekend with a 7-3 overall mark and a 4-2 conference record that puts the team into a tie for third place in the conference. RU's three losses have all come to the top two teams in the conference standings (Michigan twice and Iowa once), while RU is tied for third with its next two opponents (Northwestern and Maryland).
The Scarlet Knights enter the weekend following a weekend sweep over then-No. 9 Penn State, earning 3-0 and 1-0 wins. The defensive effort was led by
Gianna Glatz in goal, and she posted 11 total saves in the two shutouts, earning National and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week awards. One of the top defensive teams in the nation, RU has outscored opponents 17-4 on the season. The squad is second in the nation with a 0.38 goals-against-average and third in the country with a .892 save percentage.
Offensively,
Milena Redlingshoefer and
Kassidy Shetler lead the team with three goals, with Redlingshoefer pacing the squad with 10 points. Redlingshoefer shares the team lead in assists with
Katie Larmour and
Gracey Butsack.
On Sunday, the team will recognize
Gracey Butsack in a pregame ceremony, the lone senior on the team who will depart the team following the season. The Mohrsville, Pa. native enters the weekend having played in 63 games with 24 starts, including starting all nine games that she has seen action in this season. For her career, she has posted four goals and eight assists for 16 career points.
Northwestern enters the series with an 8-2 overall record and are is 4-2 in games counting towards the conference standings. The team has won three straight games in overtime (twice versus Ohio State and one win at Michigan). NU is in the top-10 nationally in assists (seventh), penalty corners (seventh) and points per game (ninth). Bente Baekers leads the team with 15 points (third in the Big Ten in points per game), while she shares the team lead with five goals along with Ana Medina Garcia.
The all-time series against the Wildcats is 5-1 in Northwestern's favor. The Rutgers' victory came in 2018, a 2-1 win, while the Wildcats earned a 4-1 win last season.
