No. 16 Field Hockey Opens Season in California

Friday, August 25

Davis, Cal.

3:00 PM

Rutgers University

UC Davis

Aug 24 | Field Hockey

Week 1 Game Notes 2023 Record Book Cal Preview Stanford Preview International Trip Recap

RU plays at UC Davis (Friday), Stanford (Sunday), Cal (Monday)

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 16 Rutgers field hockey is back in action this weekend for the first time in 2023. The Scarlet Knights will make a trip to California for a trio of games, traveling to face UC Davis, Stanford and Cal.

The trip to California is part of a scheduling alliance with the Big Ten Conference to benefit West Coast field hockey, with Maryland also making the trip west to play the three schools on opening weekend and Penn State playing at Cal and Stanford the following weekend. The California schools are affiliate members of the America East Conference, joining Northeast schools Bryant, Maine, New Hampshire, Albany, UMass Lowell and Vermont.

All three games will be able to be viewed and have live stats. Friday's game streams on ESPN+, Sunday's will be live streamed by Stanford, and Monday's game will air on Pac-12 Network.

WEEKEND MATCHUPS

Friday, August 25 vs. UC Davis – 3 p.m.

ESPN+ | Live Stats

Sunday, August 27 vs. Stanford – 3 p.m.
Stanford Live Stream | Live Stats

Monday, August 28 vs. Cal – 4 p.m.
Pac-12 Network | Live Stats

(Pac-12 Network FAQ | Provider Info)

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS

UC Davis

The Aggies went 2-13 overall last season, claiming wins over Bellarmine and Bryant. Rutgers faced UC Davis once previously, playing a neutral site matchup against them in Iowa City in 2019. RU won that game 1-0, on a third quarter goal from Rachel Houston. No one on this year's RU roster saw action in that game.

Stanford
Stanford is coming off of a 10-9 season, falling in a shoutout to Albany in the America East championship game. The Cardinal had three ranked wins and claimed six more wins than the season prior.

Rutgers is 3-2 all-time against Stanford. The last meeting came in 2017, a 2-1 overtime win. That game was a neutral site meeting in Ann Arbor, Mich., a the win over the then-No. 12 ranked Cardinal represented at the time the highest ranked victory in program history. Since that win, RU has claimed 16 wins over teams ranked No. 12 or better.

Cal
Cal was 4-11 last season. The Bears won three conference games. The team welcomes 11 newcomers, including five grad transfers, highlighted by Bente Baekers, a four-time All-American at Northwestern, and former Michigan State all-region honoree Merel Hanssen.

Rutgers is 2-2 all-time against Cal. The two teams have not met since 2002, a 3-0 win for the Bears.

Rutgers freshman Abbie Zacchini has an older sister, Madeline, who is a junior back on the Cal team.

RUTGERS TEAM NOTES

Rutgers Returns

83% of the team's goal-scoring from last season returns and 82% of the team's point-scoring returns.

On the offensive end, RU must replace just Rachel Houston (3 goals, 5 assists) and Amanda Beck (2 goals, 1 assist) from last season's production. The returning goal scoring was balanced, with Indy van Ek pacing returners with five goals last season, while Iris Langejans, Marique Dieudonne and Lucy Bannatyne all had four goals.

Iris Langejans was a Third Team All-American. She was also a First Team All-Big Ten and First Team All-Region selection after leading the team in points (16) and assists (eight), along with four goals.

Puck Winter was the Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Year. She started every game at center back, was third in the Big Ten in defensive saves, and added three goals, being named Second Team All-Region.

Rutgers returns nine of the 11 players who started double-digit games last season: Iris Langejans, Marique Dieudonne, Lucy Bannatyne, Guillermina Causarano, Puck Winter, Bridy Molyneaux, Sophia Howard, Vicky Jure and Elise Pettisani.

In between the pipes, goalkeeper Sophia Howard returns after playing every minute of last season. She posted a 1.95 goals-against-average and .707 save percentage last season.

Rutgers Newcomers

The Scarlet Knights bring in six new players for the season, which features two transfers and four first-year NCAA players.

Ava Cickavage joined the program for its spring season following one campaign at Wake Forest. Julianne Kopec is the other transfer after posting 11 goals in 27 games at Temple, where she was previously named all-conference and all-region.

RU's newcomers are:
-     Olivia Beattie: Greenisland, Northern Ireland
-     Paulina Niklaus: Mannheim, Germany
-     Abbie Zacchini: Bolton, Mass.
-     Ava Cickavage: Moorestown, N.J. (Wake Forest)
-     Olivia Fraticelli: Toms River, N.J.
-     Julianne Kopec: West Long Branch, N.J. (Temple)

International Trip

The Scarlet Knights were well prepared for the 2023 fall season with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity over the summer to take an international trip as a team. RU had the opportunity to return to campus early to practice, then departed for an international trip the members of the traveling party are sure not to forget.

The team spent the last week of June in the Netherlands and Belgium, mixing sightseeing with the opportunity to challenge themselves by facing some elite international competition and getting an early opportunity to establish the team culture and form bonds.

Captains

Rutgers has a trio of captains set for this season. Marique Dieudonne joins returning captains Guillermina Causarano and Sophia Howard to provide great leadership.

Past Success

The Scarlet Knights have proved their mettle as a top team in the Big Ten Conference. Over the past five seasons, RU has climbed to new levels. Since the start of 2018, Rutgers has a 59-34 record (.634 winning percentage), 29 ranked wins, 10 top-10 wins and five top-five wins. In that time they've made two NCAA Tournaments, including a Big Ten Tournament Championship and Elite Eight appearance. The Scarlet Knights will look to continue that successful play as 2023 approaches.

Hailing From

Rutgers has a diverse roster of local and international products. The team has 12 New Jersey natives on the team, in addition to one player from Massachusetts. The intetnational flavor Includes four players from the Netherlands, two from Argentina, two from New Zealand and one apiece from Germany and Northern Ireland.

Preseason Awards

Rutgers had three players named Big Ten Players to Watch in the preseason release. Iris Langejans, Puck Winter and Ava Cickavage were recognized by the conference.

Coaching Staff

Head coach Meredith Civico enters her 12^th season at the helm of the RU program. She has won 111 games in that time, reaching nine wins in nine different seasons and leading the team to two NCAA Tournament appearances (2018, 2021) and a Big Ten Tournament Title (2021).

Civico guided the team to its first NCAA Tournament in 32 years in 2018, then in 2021 led the team back to the NCAA Tournament where it captured the team's first NCAA Tournament victory in 35 years. The team also captured the 2021 Big Ten Tournament Title, becoming the first program at Rutgers to win the Big Ten Tournament in any sport.

Dating back to 2004, the Scarlet Knights have 37 ranked wins. 34 of them have come over the past six seasons, with 31 of those over the past five years, signaling the continued improvement of the program under coach Civico.

As an undergraduate, the then-Meredith Long started at BU, then finished her career at the University of Maryland, helping the Terrapins advance to the NCAA Final Four for three-straight seasons, including the 2005 ACC title and the 2005 NCAA National Championship. She was an All-American in 2003.

Her staff includes Maddy Sposito, who originally joined the RU staff in 2015, and Phil Edwards, who enters his second season. Meredith's husband, Joey, has served as the team's volunteer assistant coach since 2017. Jimmy Catanzarite is in his third year working with the program as the team's Director of Operations.