EVANSTON, Ill. – Rutgers field hockey dropped a road game at the highest ranked team in the conference, falling to No. 2 Northwestern, 4-0, on Friday afternoon. The Wildcats improved to 11-0 on the season while dropping RU to 4-5 and 1-2 in conference play.

Reigning Big Ten and National Defensive Player of the Week Sophia Howard made seven saves, marking a new season-high for the second straight game. The game was tied through halftime before the Wildcats gained the momentum in the second half. For the game, the hosts outshout RU 17-12 and had a 12-8 margin on corners.

The game went into halftime deadlocked at 0-0. The Scarlet Knights had their best offensive pressure late in the second quarter. In the final seconds of the frame, RU earned a series of four consecutive corners but were unable to break through.

Early in the third quarter, the hosts found the game's first goal. Off a penalty corner, Ilse Tromp fired a lot shot into the corner for the 1-0 lead. The home team then added three goals in the final frame, two coming on penalty shots and one after RU had pulled its goalkeeper to play with an extra attacker.

Northwestern and Rutgers are now 4-4 against each other in the past eight meetings. The Wildcats lead 11-5 all-time in the series.

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Rutgers remains on the road this weekend. RU next plays Sunday at Indiana in a noon game.