PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 4 Rutgers field hockey kept to its winning ways on Friday, earning a 4-2 victory over Indiana. With the victory, RU improved to 15-0 overall and 6-0 in Big Ten play.

"It is so much fun playing with this group of girls," Bridy Molyneaux said in a postgame interview on Big Ten Network. "We care so much and that really shows in how we've been playing this season. We need to stay focused going into Sunday's game, stay calm and collected and be disciplined.

Rutgers outshot the Hoosiers, 18-7 in the game. The Scarlet Knights also had an 8-1 advantage in corners.

Rutgers scored in the opening minutes on the game's first shot. Guillermina Causarano stole the ball in the circle, sent a pass across, and senior Marique Dieudonne hammered it home for an early 1-0 lead.

The Scarlet Knights added another goal in the opening quarter. Carly Snarksi sent a ball in from well outside the circle, and Bridy Molyneaux had the touch in front of the goal to score it. It was Molyneaux's fourth goal in the past four games.

IU added a goal back, intercepting a RU clear and hammering a shot home. After one quarter, the score was 2-1 RU.

The visitors continued to battle back, tying the game at 2-2 in the third quarter. Rutgers then finished the game with a flourish, putting home two fourth quarter goals to clinch the win.

With 10 minutes left in the game, the Scarlet Knights were awarded a penalty stroke. Puck Winter stepped to the dot and put the shot home, giving RU the goal for good.

Just three minutes later, Rutgers added an insurance tally to make for the 4-2 final score. Off a rebound, Guillermina Causarano knocked the ball in out of the air for the clinching tally.

Rutgers is now 29-18 in the Big Ten over the past six seasons. Since the spring 2021 season, RU is 20-10 in Big Ten Conference regular season conference games.
 
Following the game, Rutgers held its annual Senior Day appreciation ceremony. This year's honorees were Marique Dieudonne, Bridy Molyneaux, Carly Snarski, Lauren Kokoskie, Elise Pettisani, Sophia Howard and Iris Langejans.
 
With the loss, the Hoosiers fell to 5-10 overall, 0-6 in conference play. Rutgers now leads the all-time series against Indiana 11-3. Dating back to 2017, RU has won seven of the past eight games against IU. The Scarlet Knights have never lost a home game against Indiana and are 7-0 all-time against Indiana in Piscataway.

The Win Represented:

• The 15^th win of the season, tying the second most wins ever in a season for the Scarlet Knights, matching the 1984 team. Only the Big Ten Tournament champion 2021 team (19-4) won more than 15 games in a season.
• The sixth Big Ten Conference win of the season, matching the 2021 team's record for regular season conference wins.
• Rutgers has a pathway to clinching the Big Ten regular season title on Sunday. With a win over Northwestern, and thus a 7-0 conference record, RU would be assured of no worse than a tie for first place in the Big Ten, as well as the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament as RU would hold tiebreakers over all other potential 7-1 teams.
• Field hockey became the first Rutgers program to start a season 15-0 since the RU women's basketball team did so in the 1986-87 season.

Postgame Notes

• Guillermina Causarano has 12 goals and 31 points this season. She ties for the seventh most goals in a single-season in RU history (which has been done before eight times, most recently in 2018. She moves into eighth.
• Marique Dieudonne scored her fifth goal of the season, a new career-high.
• Bridy Molyneaux scored her sixth goal of the season, matching her previous career-high. She has scored four goals in the last four games.  

 
Up Next: Letterwinners Day Sunday vs. No. 1 Northwestern
Rutgers will celebrate its annual Letterwinners Day surrounding the game with No. 1 Northwestern. The day starts with a breakfast at the Rutgers Club for letterwinners and their guests and then RU will host the group of alumns at the complex for the game, which begins at 11 a.m. The Scarlet Knights then conclude the season next weekend at No. 5 Iowa.