PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers field hockey captain Paulina Niklaus was named a Third Team All-American, the NFHCA announced on Tuesday morning. Niklaus earns the first All-American laurel of her career following a season where she was previously named First Team All-Region and First Team All-Big Ten.

Niklaus was a starter in all 17 games. In addition to her presence stabilizing the team's defense, she had seven goals and three assists. The Manheim, Germany native shared team lead in goals and was second in points (17) and third in assists and was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team. She earned all-conference recognition for the second time, ascending to First Team status after being tabbed as a Second Team All-Big Ten selection as a rookie in 2023, where she also was placed on the Big Ten All-Tournament team. She had two goals in the win over No. 7 Iowa, and her first career hat trick with three scores against Indiana. She has started all 32 of her career games with 10 goals and seven assists.

Under head coach Meredith Civico, Rutgers' has had 12 players named All-Americans since 2018 after only having one All-American selections between 2002 and 2017. This marks the seventh consecutive season that RU has had at least one All-American.