PISCATAWAY, N.J. - No. 19 Rutgers field hockey will head on the road this weekend, travelling for another ranked matchup at No. 12. The game, a noon contest on Sunday, will be nationally televised on the ACC Network with Mike Corey and Rachael DeCecco on the call.
About Rutgers
Rutgers comes into the contest at 7-7 overall and 3-4 in Big Ten Conference play. The team has played a brutally tough schedule, with 10 of the first 14 opponents being ranked. Six of the team's seven losses have come to teams ranked in the top-18, including two one-goal losses to top-3 teams. From October 2 on, RU is set to finish the season with six straight ranked opponents, Syracuse being the fourth.
Last weekend, RU played a thriller at No. 2 Maryland. The Scarlet Knights took an early 1-0 lead on a
Marique Dieudonne goal just four minutes in. The team held that lead into the second half, where the Terps then took a 3-1 lead with just under five minutes to play. Rutgers countered with a quick two-goal outburst, scoring twice just under two minutes apart to tie the game at 3-3 with 1:46 remaining in regulation. But UM struck for the game winner with just 41 seconds remaining to take the win.
The Scarlet Knights were looking to pick up momentum from the team's huge win over October 8, downing No. 3 Northwestern. The Scarlet Knights scored two early goals against the defending national champions, fueled by the support of a large crowd of alumni returning to campus for the team's Title IX 50
th anniversary commemoration. Following the contest,
Iris Langejans was named the National Defensive Player of the Week, and
Indy van Ek was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week.
The win over Northwestern tied the highest ranked regular season win in program history. On the season, RU boasts four ranked wins (No. 15 UConn, at No. 25 Monmouth, No. 23 Ohio State, No. 3 Northwestern). Over the last two seasons, RU has 17 ranked wins. The 2021 squad set a program record with 13 ranked wins out of their 19 wins overall en route to the team's Big Ten Tournament Championship.
After graduating 10 seniors from last year's first ever Big Ten Tournament winning squad, including eight starters, RU has a new look to the lineup this year. RU features a traditional starting lineup of
Iris Langejans,
Puck Winter,
Elise Pettisani and
Isabella Mancini at back,
Guillermina Causarano,
Vicky Jure and
Lucy Bannatyne at midfield, and
Marique Dieudonne,
Bridy Molyneaux and
Rachel Houston at forward.
Among that group of 11 starters, four of them (Winter, Pettisani, Jure and Dieudonne) entered the season with zero career collegiate games played. Mancini and Howard, two of the team's captains alongside Causarano, had combined for just five career starts entering the year.
Of the team's 22-player roster, RU boasts nine international student-athletes, and 13 from the US. Of those Americans, 12 are New Jersey natives (
Natalie Arnold,
Bridy Molyneaux,
Amanda Beck,
Isabella Mancini,
Dani Gindville,
Olivia Weir,
Maggie Lamb,
Carly Snarski,
Noelle Leaf,
Lauren Kokoskie,
Elise Pettisani and
Erica Babitts), with one from Pennsylvania (
Annie Walsh).
RU's nine internationals feature four from The Netherlands (
Marique Dieudonne,
Indy van Ek,
Puck Winter and
Iris Langejans), two each from New Zealand (
Lucy Bannatyne and
Sophia Howard) and Argentina (
Guillermina Causarano and
Vicky Jure) as well as one from Northern Ireland (
Rachel Houston).
What a Win Would Mean
A win over No. 12 Syracuse would represent RU's:
- Fifth ranked win of the season
- Second ranked road win
- Second straight win over Syracuse (8-21 all-time).
About Syracuse
Syracuse enters the weekend at 12-3 overall, with a home game Friday against Louisville also on the docket. This will be the fourth straight game RU plays against a top-10 scoring offense in the country, as Cuse enters fifth nationally in scoring average and sixth in scoring margin, assists, points and goals per game.
Quirine Comans (12 goals, seven assists ) and Charlotte de Vries (11 goals, nine assists) share the team lead with 31 points. Eefke van den Nieuwenhof and Sabine van den Eijnden each have six goals. In goal, Brooke Borzymowski holds a 1.06 goals-against-average (eighth best in the country) and .741 save percentage.
Like Rutgers, Syracuse advanced to the Elite Eight last season. This season, against common opponents this season, each earned a road win at Monmouth and lost to Princeton.
About The Series
Rutgers is 7-21 against Syracuse all-time. Formerly league rivals in the BIG EAST, the teams played annually from 1994 to 2012. Last season, Rutgers earned a 3-2 home win in double-overtime, snapping a 11-game winning streak for Syracuse. In that contest last season, the
Carly Snarski put RU ahead 2-0 in regulation, before Syracuse tied the game in the fourth quarter. In the second extra session,
Lucy Bannatyne lifted the team to victory in double-overtime, racing the length of the field to score the game-winner. Additionally, the teams have met for a preseason scrimmage in each of the last two seasons.
