PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 19 Rutgers field hockey finished a pair of home Big Ten games with a split, as the Scarlet Knights fell to No. 8 Michigan on Sunday afternoon, 4-1.
Sophia Howard made a career-high 11 saves, and
Rachel Houston had the lone goal for RU.
Puck Winter also had her team-leading third defensive save of the season.
Michigan gained its first corner in the opening minutes of the game and capitalized for an early goal. The ball was inserted and then sent to the back post, where the Wolverines had a player stationed to send the ball home for an early 1-0 lead.
Michigan had the early pressure, with a 6-0 lead in shots in the early going. RU gained a corner late in the first quarter, but were unable to convert, and trailed 1-0 after 15 minutes. The Scarlet Knights had another great chance off a second quarter corner, but a shot from
Rachel Houston rang off the post and stayed out. At halftime, the visitors held their 1-0 lead.
UM outshot RU 12-3 and out cornered them 4-3 in the opening half. After the opening goal and initial UM pressure, RU settled in and played a strong second quarter, with
Sophia Howard making four saves in the first half.
The Wolverines came out of halftime strong, and soon had expanded their lead. After a corner, the visitors took a shot and with a lot of traffic in front of the net, were able to convert at take a 2-0 lead early in the third quarter. The Wolverines carried that lead into the fourth quarter.
Midway through the fourth quarter, the Wolverines again crashed towards the net, and scored to make their lead 3-0. Rutgers pulled the goalkeeper for an extra attacker, and with the net free UM extended the lead to 4-0.
The Scarlet Knights never relented and had a great individual effort to get a late goal.
Rachel Houston carried hard to the net and scored, but the final was 4-1 Michigan.
After earning a 2-0 win over No. 23 Ohio State on Friday, the Scarlet Knights stand at 6-4 overall and 2-1 in Big Ten play. Action continues next weekend on the road, as RU travels to Indiana (Friday) and No. 5 Iowa (Sunday).
