PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 15 Rutgers field hockey begins its 2021 fall season this weekend with a pair of games in Durham, North Carolina. The Scarlet Knights will face Duke and Richmond in the season's first two contests.
The games will mark the first contests against a non-Big Ten team for the Scarlet Knights since RU faced Temple on October 27, 2019, a span of 670 days.
WEEKEND MATCHUPS
Friday (6 p.m.): Rutgers at Duke:
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Saturday (2 p.m.) Rutgers vs. Richmond:
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The Scarlet Knights are looking to build off the successes the team displayed in the spring season, when the team finished ranked No. 7 in the nation with a 9-6 record backed by four top-10 wins. A veteran team this season, Rutgers returns three All-Americans (
Gianna Glatz,
Katie Larmour and
Milena Redlingshoefer) and four all-conference selections (Glatz, Larmour, Redlingshoefer and
Kerrie Burns).
Friday night the nation's 15
th ranked squad will open the year with a road game at No. 12 Duke. The two teams meet for the fourth time in history and first time since 2013. The all-time series is tied at 1-1-1, with all three games going into overtime. Duke won 3-2 in 2013 and Rutgers won 2-1 in 1989. The tie came in the first meeting in 1987. The Blue Devils went 4-12 in the 2020-21 season, which was played by the ACC in both the fall and spring seasons. Duke will be without 2019 all-conference selection Leah Crouse, who will be playing with Rutgers' goalkeeper
Gianna Glatz for Team USA in the Junior Pan American Championships this weekend.
The team remains in Durham to play a neutral site contest the following day against Richmond at 2 p.m, remaining on Duke's campus for the game. The game will be the regular season opener for the Spiders, who went 4-3 in an abbreviated 2021 spring season. Rutgers is 4-1 all-time against Richmond and on a two-game winning streak (2018 and 2016). Current Scarlet Knights
Kerrie Burns and
Kassidy Shetler each had goals in that 2018 contest, a 3-0 win. Richmond was picked fourth in the A-10 preseason poll.
"We are looking really good in the preseason," head coach
Meredith Civico said on the
Inside Rutgers Athletics Podcast. "We bring back a group of players with tremendous experience, we're fortunate to have five players return for their fifth season. And we have a good group of younger players and newcomers who will make an impact. We have a lot of depth and a lot that we're excited about. There's something really exciting about this group and it's fun to coach them I'm really looking forward to competing again, starting with Duke in our opening game."
