No. 16 Field Hockey Plays at No. 15 UConn Friday

Friday, September 1

Storrs, Conn.

4:00 PM

Rutgers University

Uconn

No. 16 Field Hockey Plays at No. 15 UConn Friday

Aug 30 | Field Hockey

Rutgers Game Notes Watch Live Live Stats

Game in Storrs in 4 pm on Flo Sports

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - No. 16 Rutgers field hockey will play a lone road game this weekend, as they'll meet another ranked foe, No. 15 UConn, for a Friday afternoon affair. The Scarlet Knights will travel 180 miles to the northeast to play in Storrs at 4 p.m.

Game Preview

Friday, September 1 at UConn – Flo Sports, 4 p.m.

Live Stream | Live Stats

ABOUT RUTGERS

Rutgers opened the season with a trip to California. After a day to take in the sights in San Francisco, the team got to work and picked up three wins on the West Coast. RU defeated UC Davis (2-0), Stanford (2-0) and Cal (2-1) for a 3-0 stretch where they outscored opponents by a 6-1 margin.

Offensively, RU's six goals came from four players, all returners in Guillermina Causarano, Puck Winter, Bridy Molyneaux and Iris Langejans. Causarano led the team with five points on the trip and had the crucial game-winning goal at Cal to break a 1-1 deadlock in the third quarter.

Sophomore Vicky Jure collected the first three assists of her collegiate career to pace the squad. She stands eight nationally with an average of 1.00 assists per game.

Sophia Howard earned two shutouts in goal, holding a 0.33 goals-against-average for the trek. Following the opening weekend, RU placed in the top-10 nationally in goals-against-average (sixth), shutouts per game (sixth), save percentage (seventh) and scoring margin (ninth).

ABOUT THE SERIES

Rutgers and UConn have played 35 times previously, with the Huskies holding a 30-4-1 advantage in the all-time series. The Scarlet Knights have won the last two games in the series, both of which have come in overtime.

Last season, UConn came to Piscataway, and RU earned a 1-0 overtime win over the-then No. 15 Huskies. Guillermina Causarano had the game-winning goal in that came, finishing off a pass from Iris Langejans, while Sophia Howard had six saves for the shutout.

In 2021 in Storrs, RU went to double-overtime in a 2-1 victory. Carly Snarski had the regulation goal, and Milena Redlingshoefer's penalty stroke goal in double-overtime gave RU the win.

The teams also met in 2018 in the NCAA Tournament. With RU making its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 32 years, the Scarlet Knights fell to No. 5 UConn 5-0.

ABOUT UCONN

Coming off of an 11-7 campaign last season, the Huskies started the year with a 1-1 mark in two road games last weekend. UConn opened the year by dropping a 2-0 decision at St. Joe's but rebounded with a 2-1 win Sunday at Monmouth.

The Huskies used freshman Natalie McKenna in goal, and she made 18 saves (fourth nationally in save per game) in a weekend where the Huskies conceded 30 shots in two games. For comparison, RU surrendered just 19 shots to opponents in a three-game opening stretch (outshooting foes 47-19).

For UConn, reigning BIG EAST Freshman of the Year, Sol Simone, and All-Conference Second Teamer, Julia Bressler, were picked to the preseason All-BIG EAST team.

UConn is coached by Paul Caddy, who was promoted to head coach in 2021. Overall, he has been on the Huskies staff for over 13 seasons and has seen nearly 400 wins for the program in that time.

WITH A WIN

RU would have a 4-0 record to start the season for the second time in three years, as the fall 2021 Big Ten Tournament Champion squad also started that year 4-0 (which included a win at UConn in the third game of that season).
It would also be the third time in the past six years starting a season 4-0 (also done by the 2018 NCAA Tournament team).
A win over the No. 15 Huskies would be the first ranked win of the season, sixth ranked win over the past two seasons, 19^th ranked win over the past three seasons and 23^rd ranked win since the spring 2021 season.
It would be the 39^th ranked win for RU since Meredith Civico took over as the head coach.
Rutgers would earned its fifth lifetime win over UConn in 36 all-time meetings, and the third straight win in the series.

Up Next

The game against UConn marks the fourth road game in a stretch of seven straight road games and eight of nine away from home to begin the year for RU. Next weekend, Rutgers plays at Villanova (Friday) and No. 10 Princeton (Sunday)

RUTGERS SEASON NOTES

Rutgers Returning

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 first-year players are Olivia Beattie (Northern Ireland), Paulina Niklaus (Germany), Olivia Fraticelli (Toms River, N.J.) and Abbie Zacchini (Bolton, Mass.)

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.

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 international flavor Includes four players from the Netherlands, two from Argentina, two from New Zealand and one apiece from Germany and Northern Ireland.

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 (through the California trip), Rutgers has a 62-34 record (.646 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.