PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers field hockey (8-8) earned a massive win on Thursday morning to open play at the Big Ten Tournament, taking down No. 7 Ohio State by a 2-1 final score. The 4-seed Scarlet Knights toppled the 5-seed Buckeyes (14-5) behind two goals from Kara Heck.

The Scarlet Knights controlled possession throughout much of the game. RU had the advantage in shots (12-9), while OSU had a 5-2 margin in corners.

Heck recorded her first multi-goal game of the season, scored her first goal overall since September 22 against Princeton, and had her first two goal game since September 17 of 2023 with Boston College. She now has six goals on the year, third on the squad.

Rutgers had the better offensive pressure in the game's first quarter. RU outshot OSU 3-1 in the first frame and had the first two penalty corners of the contest. Sophia Howard made three saves to earn the win in goal. Sophie Kuiper and Guillermina Causarano picked up assists.

RU scored the game's first goal on a great transition play in the second quarter. Sophie Kuiper carried the ball down the field and sent a pass to the front of the net to Kara Heck. Expertly handling around an aggressive move by the OSU goalkeeper, Heck roofed a shot to give the Scarlet Knights an early advantage.

Just after halftime, RU extended the lead. Ava Cickavage played the ball to Guillermina Causarano at the top of the circle. The team captain took the ball around the defense to the back line, and sent the ball through the front, where Kara Heck deflected it in for her second goal of the day, giving RU a 2-0 advantage.

The Buckeyes did not relent however. OSU quickly gained a penalty corner and answered from the back post, cutting the margin to 2-1.

With minutes to play, OSU pulled their goalkeeper for an extra attacker as they pressed for an equalizer. However, RU's defense was relentless, and they did not allow the Buckeyes any space, and held them off to secure the victory.
 
With the Win over No. 7 Ohio State:

• Fifth all-time Big Ten Tournament win
• Second straight season with a Big Ten Tournament win
• Fourth ranked win of the season
• Third top-10 win of the season
• 16^th top-10 win since April of 2021
• Eighth straight win over Ohio State (2-0 this season)
• Fourth win against a team in the top-20 of the NCAA RPI
• Third consecutive ranked win
• 17 ranked wins in the past five seasons
• 41 ranked wins since 2018

 
Up Next

The victory sends Rutgers to the Big Ten Semifinals. The Scarlet Knights will play the nation's No. 1 ranked team, Northwestern, at 1 p.m. on Friday on Big Ten Network.