STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – No. 10 Rutgers field hockey continued its impressive winning streak with a 1-0 victory in double overtime at Penn State. The Scarlet Knights have opened the campaign with a 7-0 record, the best start to a season in program history.
With a seventh straight road victory, RU is already tied for the second most road wins in a season in program history. Rutgers claimed a win in the initial Big Ten Conference game for the fourth straight season and are 18-12 against Big Ten teams over the past three seasons.
Guillermina Causarano scored the game-winning goal in overtime.
Sophia Howard made seven saves in goal.
In the first quarter, Penn State earned a trio of corners, but
Sophia Howard stood tall in goal, making three early saves to keep the game scoreless. Rutgers had five first quarter shots but got none on net. At halftime, each team had taken seven shots, but none had found the back of the net.
In the third quarter, PSU outshot RU 5-1, but still the defense held strong and the game was scoreless entering the fourth.
Sophia Howard continued to excel in net, with a number of saves to turn aside corner shots from the home team. The fourth quarter wouldn't decide the game either, heading to an extra session. Rutgers went to extra time for the third time in the past four games.
Both teams had quality chances in the first overtime period, but still no one could score. Finally, in double overtime, RU broke through. After an initial shot was saved,
Guillermina Causarano found the rebound and knocked home the game-winner.
Rutgers will host La Salle on Sunday for the first home game this season. The game starts at 1 p.m.
Postgame Notes
The victory represented:
- Rutgers' best ever start to a season (7-0).
- Rutgers' first time ever winning its first seven road games of the season.
- Tied for the second most road wins in a season (2021: 7, record is 8 in 1993).
- A 1-0 start to Big Ten play for the fourth straight season.
- Rutgers earned its third ranked win of the season, eighth ranked win over the past two seasons, the 21st ranked win over the past three seasons and the 25th ranked win since the spring 2021 season along with the 41st ranked win for RU since Meredith Civico took over as the head coach.
- Rutgers is now 5-1 in its last six meetings with Penn State, with a ranked win for each victory.
- Rutgers is 66-34 in its past 100 games dating back to the start of the 2018 season.
- A 3-0 mark in the first three ranked matchups of the season for the second time in the past three seasons.
