PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 10 Rutgers field hockey added another ranked win to its ledger as the Scarlet Knights took down a fellow New Jersey foe on Friday afternoon, downing No. 20 Monmouth by a 3-2 final score. RU improved to 5-1 on the year with the victory.
Rutgers was buoyed by goals from three different goal scorers:
Milena Redlingshoefer,
Kerrie Burns and
Guillermina Causarano. Carly Snarksi added an assist and
Abby Regn had a defensive save. The two RU goalkeepers split the two halves, and each of
Gianna Glatz and
Sophia Howard had two saves. Rutgers capitalized on a 13-8 advantage in shots and 9-2 margin in penalty corners.
"On offense, we had some really good sequences, working down the right side and we had some good midfield transfers,"
Milena Redlingshoefer explained. "It's a good feeling to come off the field with another win, but we know we can still improve."
The Scarlet Knights got on the board in the first quarter, capitalizing off a penalty stroke.
Milena Redlingshoefer stepped to the dot and
buried one for the game's first goal. It was Redlingshoefer's third goal this season, tying for the team lead, and all three have come on penalty strokes.
"It's a really good team effort, with the strikers getting that outcome for me to be able to score on the stroke," Redlingshoefer explained. "Taking on this role, I'm now used to being the one to step up there and finish that stroke."
That score held until the end of the second quarter, when there was a sudden flurry of goals with three tallies in the game in a span of just over three minutes. RU had back-to-back goals, with
Kerrie Burns and
Guillermina Causarano scoring just 86 seconds apart to extend the lead to 3-0.
It was
Kerrie Burns first tallying in front,
finishing off a play after an initial shot block. Then it was a strong play from
Guillermina Causarano scoring her first career goal, with an assist to
Carly Snarski.
The Hawks answered back with another goal just before halftime, with RU taking a 3-1 lead into halftime. Monmouth was able to add one more marker, but RU closed out the game to seal a 3-2 victory.
"I think we played a very good game," Causarano said. "My goal, it was a great play from the whole team to make it happen. For me to get my first goal, I'm very happy. We were playing two-touch hockey, when we play together, that's our best hockey."
Postgame Notes
- The win was RU's fourth ranked win this season through six games.
- RU is in a stretch where 9-of-10 games are against ranked foes.
- RU now has 23 ranked wins since Meredith Civico took over the program in 2012.
- The goal from Causarano was the freshman's first career goal.
- Junior Isabella Mancini made her first career start at back.
- Abby Regn made her season debut and picked up a defensive save.
- The assist was Snarksi's first career helper.
- Redlingshoefer, who holds the team lead in points with 12, now shares the team-high in goals with three, the same as freshman Lucy Bannatyne.
- Rutgers takes a 6-4 lead in the all-time series against the Hawks.
