PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 6 Rutgers field hockey returns to Bauer Track and Field Complex, the site of the upcoming 2021 Big Ten Field Hockey Tournament, this weekend, where the Scarlet Knights will host Big Ten games against No. 1 Iowa (Friday at 3 p.m.) and Indiana (Sunday at 11 a.m.).

Both games will be live streamed on B1G+. On Friday, RU will recognize World Smile Day, while Sunday is the Vs. Cancer Awareness game.

Rutgers is off to an incredible start to the season, opening the year with an 8-1 mark that is the team's best start to a season since the 2008 team started 9-1. If RU can sweep this weekend's games, it would be the best start to a season through 11 games since 1997.

The Scarlet Knights opening run has been made more impressive by the quality of the competition. RU has defeated seven ranked teams in their opening eight wins: No. 12 Duke, No. 6 UConn, No. 16 Syracuse, No. 20 Monmouth, No. 22 Delaware, No. 3 Northwestern and No. 17 Princeton. The seven ranked wins represent a program best in a season, while in addition five of those ranked wins have come on the road, also representing a program record. RU downed No. 3 Northwestern for the highest ranked win in modern program history and can claim the program's first ever win over a No. 1 ranked team with a defeated of No. 1 Iowa on Friday. The team's .889 winning percentage is the fourth best mark in the nation.

The Big Ten Conference has six teams ranked in the top-10 this week's poll: No. 1 Iowa, No. 2 Michigan, No. 4 Northwestern, No. 6 Rutgers, No. 7 Maryland and No. 8 Penn State. Teams from the best league in the nation will descend upon Piscataway on the first week of November for an eagerly anticipated conference tournament. The action will begin with quarterfinal games on Thursday, November 5^th, followed by semifinals on Friday afternoon and the championship game on Sunday, November 7.

Milena Redlingshofer leads RU with 16 points on team-high four goals and eight assists. All four of her goals were game-winners, and she shares the team lead in goals with freshman Lucy Bannatyne. She is tied for the national lead at a pace of 0.89 assists per game. Five other players (Kerrie Burns, Gianna Mancini, Tayla Parkes, Carly Snarski and Kassidy Shetler) all have multiple goals on the season. RU has outscored its opponents 24-11 on the year, with goalkeeper Gianna Glatz posting a 1.14 goals-against-average.  

Iowa enters the contest at 10-0 overall, one of just two remaining unbeaten teams. The Hawkeyes have eight consecutive shutouts, only conceding four goals on the year, all on the opening weekend of action, and have won three straight games in matchups against top-6 teams in No. 5 Louisville and No. 6 Penn State. The team is led offensively by Ellie Holley with eight goals, seven assists and 23 points. Goalkeeper Grace McGuire has a league-best 0.40 goals-against-average.

Rutgers trails the all-time series with Iowa 3-8-1. The Scarlet Knights won three straight games in the series from 2016-2018, including a 1-0 victory over No. 7 Iowa in the team's last meeting in Piscataway (2018). All three wins came over ranked Hawkeye teams.

Indiana holds a 6-3 record currently, and all three of their losses have come against top-10 teams. The team started the year 4-1, its best five-game start to a season since 2014 and earned a ranked victory over No. 21 Miami (OH) that was their first such win since 2017. Kira Curland leads the team with four goals and eight points. In goal, Arabella Loveridge has a 1.70 goals-against-average.

Rutgers has won four straight matchups against the Hoosiers. The Scarlet Knights hold a 8-2 advantage in the all-time series over IU.