PISCATAWAY, N.J. - No. 10 Rutgers field hockey earned its highest ranked win in program history, defeating No. 4 Northwestern 2-1 on Friday afternoon.
Milena Redlingshoefer and
Liz Romano scored for RU, and
Gianna Glatz made eight saves in the goal to preserve the win.
RU jumped right out to the lead, scoring twice in the first three minutes. The team capitalized on two early penalty corner opportunities to take command of the game from the outset.
Just under two minutes into the contest, RU took the lead. On the game's first corner, the ball was inserted to the top, and
Milena Redlingshoefer fired the ball in for the goal.
Katie Larmour and
Kerrie Burns picked up assists on the play.
It would take just 39 seconds for the Scarlet Knights to add to the lead. After another corner, the initial shot from the top was blocked. Northwestern tried to clear, but
Liz Romano stopped that effort and
sent the ball into the back of the net.
From that point, it was on the RU defense to hold the lead, and the team proved their mettle as one of the nation's best defensive teams with another stout effort. The reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week,
Gianna Glatz was exceptional in goal once again, making eight saves and allowing just one goal.Northwestern pressed to the wire with a last effort on a corner in the final minute, but the defense held them off to secure the win.
Rutgers and Northwestern will meet again Sunday at 12 p.m. The game is Senior Day, with a pregame ceremony to honor RU's lone departing senior,
Gracey Butsack.
Quotable
"We knew that Northwestern would come out and play physical and aggressive. We wanted to match that by setting the tempo and pushing the pace early in the game. That's exactly what we came out and did. Our defense was really sound and solid as a unit, not just individuals making tackles, but as a whole, and that was a big reason we were able to pull out the win. It's great to come in this year as a newcomer and be able to contribute to the program and be able to make an impact and show that Rutgers field hockey is here to play."
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Liz Romano
"We played to our team identity. We know Northwestern is a great team and well coached, so we needed to stay together as a team. Our team defense was awesome. Our defensive penalty corner group worked so hard this week, and we knew that if we outworked them, we could come out on top. Our team has worked so hard, our coaching staff has put us in the best position to win, so to get this win is just icing on the cake."
Gianna Glatz
Notable
- The win was the highest ranked win in program history (previous highest: done twice, No. 6 Princeton - 2018 (home) and 2019 (road)
- It marked the seventh top-10 win in program history - all coming over the past three seasons
- The win gave RU three straight wins over ranked teams for the first time in program history.
- It was the team's fourth lifetime ranked win over a Big Ten foe.
- Rutgers has outscored opponents 19-5 through 11 games.
