The season began with a trip to the West Coast at the end of August. RU took a three-game road swing through California, stopping to visit landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge, then sweeping the opening weekend with wins over UC Davis, Stanford, and Cal. And for the next two months, the winning just wouldn’t stop. The Scarlet Knights would end up as the last unbeaten team in all of Division I field hockey. The longest winning streak in program history ultimately stretched to a 15-0 record to begin the year.

The team was battle tested early on with road games in non-conference play. Rutgers resolve showed, as the team played numerous games with a one-goal margin that stretched past regulation, but RU continually came out on top. 

The Scarlet Knights pushed into a penalty shootout at No. 15 UConn, a 2-1 win that would be RU’s first of ultimately four games on the year decided after two overtimes with a penalty shootout. The next weekend, on the road again at an in-state rival, RU prevailed over No. 15 Princeton, 2-1 in double-overtime on a Puck Winter game-winner. In non-conference play, RU also won on the road against Villanova (6-2) and No. 18 UMass (4-2) and toppled La Salle (2-0) and CAA Regular Season champ Monmouth (4-2). 

Rutgers’ strong play continued with the start of play in one of the nation’s toughest field hockey conferences. Rutgers’ first four conference games of the season came against teams ranked in the top-15 nationally. RU went past regulation in all of them and won all of them. 

At No. 12 Penn State, 72 scoreless minutes were snapped by a Guillermina Causarano goal for a 1-0 win to officially mark the best start to a season in program history. 

On a Thursday afternoon in Piscataway, RU defeated No. 8 Maryland in a penalty shootout in front of a boisterous home crowd, goals from Julianne Kopec and Guillermina Causarano, and a strong shootout performance for the program’s fifth ever win over Maryland. 

Hosting No. 15 Michigan, it was another overtime game-winning goal from Guillermina Causarano that led to a 2-1 win over the Wolverines. 

At No. 9 Ohio State, the teams went scoreless through six frames, and another penalty shootout went in RU’s favor for a 1-0 win. 

The team also earned league wins at Michigan State and Indiana. The Indiana win on a Senior Day where RU recognized seven seniors wrapped the 15-0 start, as RU 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, before anyone on the current team was born. 

Since the spring 2021 season, RU is 20-12 in Big Ten Conference regular season conference games, and has 29 Big Ten wins over the past six seasons. Rutgers ultimately finished second in the Big Ten with a 6-2 conference record, tying the program's best ever finish in the league. 

The Scarlet Knights started postseason play with a win over No.16 Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament. RU traveled to Ann Arbor and drew the host school, and downed the Wolverines on a late goal from Paulina Niklaus for a 1-0 win, RU’s fourth ever Big Ten tournament win and fourth ever win over Michigan. Paulina Niklaus and Lucy Bannatyne were named to the Big Ten’s All-Tournament Team. 

The Scarlet Knights earned an at-large bid to the 2023 NCAA Tournament. The bid marked the fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in the program’s history, and the third time in past six seasons. Prior to 2018, RU had just two NCAA appearances, and now have gone three times since then. 

Rutgers went on the road for the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, where they were matched up against the No. 9 ranked Harvard Crimson, who entered the game on a 10-game winning streak after winning the Ivy League Tournament. Rutgers had the offensive advantage in the game, outshooting Harvard 16-6. However, the Crimson capitalized on their opportunities with two goals, ultimately winning 2-1. 

The offensive attack was led by a career year from Guillermina Causarano, who had a team-best 12 goals, eight assists and 32 points. Among RU’s all-time single-season marks, she tied for seventh in goals and had the eighth most points. 

Puck Winter (eight goals), Marique Diuedonne (seven goals), Bridy Molyneaux (six goals) and Paulina Niklaus (three goals) all set or matched career-highs in goal scoring. Julianne Kopec also had three goals. 

Behind Causarano’s eight helpers, Lucy Bannatyne (six assists), Iris Langejans (six assists), Vicky Jure (five assists) and Paulina Niklaus (four assists) all had multiple helpers. 

Puck Winter had 12 defensive saves on the saves, finishing as the NCAA statistical champion in the category. The mark was the second most in a single season in RU history. 

In the goal, Sohpia Howard posted a 1.25 goals-against-average with 82 saves for a .752 save percentage. She was the goalkeeper for the team’s six shutouts on the year. 

For all the team success on the field, the Scarlet Knights were well recognized in postseason awards. RU earned numerous program records for the amount and quality of postseason awards received. 

• Five All-Big Ten selections 
  • First Team: Iris Langejans (unanimous), Puck Winter, Guillermina Causarano
  • Second Team: Ava Cickavage, Paulina Niklaus
• Program Record Six All-Region Selections 
  • First Team: Iris Langejans, Puck Winter, Guillermina Causarano
  • Second Team: Ava Cickavage, Paulina Niklaus, Sophia Howard
• 16 Academic All-Big Ten selections

• Iris Langejans: Big Ten Player of the Year, Mid-Atlantic Region Player of the Year, First Team All-American, Honda Award Finalist, NFHCA Senior Team, All-ECAC
• Puck Winter: Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Second Team All-American

The team’s success in 2023 was built on a strong team culture and family atmosphere. Under the leadership of Meredith Civico, RU field hockey has created a welcoming and positive environment that has helped the team gel and succeed together. The tight bonds for the squad off the field helped the team dynamic succeed on the field.  

The incredibly successful season saw the Scarlet Knights win 16 games, the second most in the program’s history, only behind the fall 2021 team. RU has won 43 of their past 61 games over the past three seasons.

During the year, RU defeated eight ranked teams, plus earned a win over the eventual American East champions (Cal). RU qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the third time in the past six years, and fifth time overall. Rutgers was ranked in every national poll this season, peaking at No. 3 in the nation and were in the top-10 in eight of the 11 polls this season.