PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers field hockey is back on the road this weekend. The Scarlet Knights play another highly ranked team, travelling to Ann Arbor to face No. 5 Michigan. Game time is 4 p.m. on Friday, streaming on B1G+.

This game concludes a three-game road swing in league play, after playing at Northwestern and Indiana last weekend. It will be RU's last road Big Ten game during the regular season, with the final three Big Ten games all at home. RU also finishes the season on the road at UMass Lowell.

The matchup against No. 5 Michigan will be the team's sixth ranked matchup in the first 11 games, and the fifth in the past six games. RU also has ranked matchups coming up with No. 4 Ohio State (Oct. 20) and No. 17 Penn State (Oct. 25).

Paulina Niklaus and Guillermina Causarano share the team lead with six goals after Niklaus had three tallies against Indiana last Sunday. Causarano had a team-high nine assists and 21 points. Causarano stands fourth in the nation in assists per game (0.9) and 13^th in points per game (2.1).

Rutgers stands at number 21 in this week's NCAA RPI rankings. RU has wins over two-top 25 RPI teams (13 Iowa and 22 Monmouth). Five of their six losses have come by one goal to teams, swith three of those teams in the top 10 of the RPI.

Milestone Tracker

Guillermina Causarano has 22 goals in her career, which is eighth most in program history. Two more will tie her with Linde van Schaik for seventh (24 from 2015-18) and three more will tie her with Mary Beth Dwyer for sixth (25 from 1982-85).
 
Puck Winter has five defensive saves on the season. The Big Ten's leader in defensive saves and last season's NCAA leader in the statistic, Winter has 20 defensive saves in her career, the second most all-time at RU. The all-time leader at RU is Brandi Bailey, who had 24 from 1993-1996.
 
Bridy Molyneaux has 19 goals in her career. Her next score would make her the 16^th RU player with 20 career goals, and just the fifth to notch 20 career goals in the past 15 years.

About Michigan

Michigan enters the weekend at 8-1 overall and 2-0 in league play. After falling to No. 2 UNC in the season opener, they have won eight straight games, most recently a 1-0 win over No. 4 Ohio State last Sunday. UM leads the nation in goals per game (4.44), points per game (12.33) and are second in scoring margin (3.33).

Kate McLaughlin leads the team with nine goals. She shares the team lead in points (22) with Abby Tamer, who has eight goals and six assists. In goal, Hala Silverstein is the reigning Defensive Player of the Week and owns a 1.19 goals-against-average and .679 save percentage.

Rutgers and Michigan will meet for the 17^th time this season, with the Wolverines winning 12 of the first 16 matchups. Rutgers, who eliminated the hosts in the opening round of last year's Big Ten Tournament, have won three of the past four games against the Wolverines, a streak that started with RU claiming a 1-0 win to capture the 2021 Big Ten Tournament title.

A Win over No. 5 Michigan would represent

• Second ranked win and second top-10 win of the season
• 15^th ranked win over the past five seasons and 39^th since 2018
• 15^th top-10 win since April of 2021
• Four wins in the past five games against Michigan

Up Next

Rutgers returns home for its Letterwinners Celebration Weekend. The Scarlet Knights will welcome back alumns for games on Friday, October 18 (Michigan State, 1 pm) and Sunday, October 20 (Ohio State, 12 pm).