PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 11 Rutgers field hockey saw an outburst of scoring on Sunday afternoon, leading the team to a 6-1 victory over Miami Ohio. Captain Guillermina Causarano led the way with a career-high seven points, recording the second hat trick of her career and adding an assist to her three goals.
 
A trio of newcomers added the other goals for the Scarlet Knights. Freshmen Sophie Kuiper and Anna Cogdell scored their first collegiate goals. Graduate transfer Kara Heck had her third tally of the season, and she sits in second place on the team in goal's behind Causarano's five overall markers.
 
RU had five assists on the day, with Kuiper picking up a career-high two helpers. Causarano, Lucy Bannatyne and Ashley Arnold all added assists. Arnold's assist was her first point as a Scarlet Knight and her first collegiate assist.
 
The scoring outburst came against a Redhawks squad that had excelled defensively this season. Miami had allowed just four goals in their first five games this season, including just one goal in the previous 131 minutes following a shutout victory over a Big Ten school (Indiana) and pushing a scoreless tie to overtime on Friday evening at Princeton.
 
With the win, Rutgers improved to 3-2 overall, while Miami fell to 3-3. The six goals for RU were a season-high and the most for the Scarlet Knights since scoring six against Villanova early last season (Sept. 8, 2023).
 
The Scarlet Knights are now 2-2 lifetime against the Redhawks, winning the first meeting against them since the school's initial matchup in 1984. After outshooting Miami 14-6 on the day, RU has outshot opponents 82-44 on the season and outscored them 15-6.
 
Rutgers started its scoring early, with Kuiper tallying just 4:45 into the contest, and Causarano following five minutes later. Miami's lone goal of the contest came early in the second quarter, but 2-1 would be the closest that they would be. In the third quarter, RU had a trio of goals separated by just five minutes to balloon the lead to 5-1 before the end of that frame. Anna Cogdell's goal in the final minutes added an exclamation point to the 6-1 final score.
 
Sophia Howard made three saves in the game. RU had a 3-2 advantage in corners.
 

Up next is a two-game week for the Scarlet Knights. It starts next Friday, as RU's second road game of the season will be the Big Ten opener. RU plays at No. 5 Maryland on Friday night at 5 p.m. Then, the Scarlet Knights return to Bauer to host No. 15 Princeton at noon on Sunday. That will be the start of a stretch where four straight opponents are ranked in the top-15 of this week's NFHCA poll, as No. 6 Iowa (home, September 27) and No. 1 Northwestern (road, October 4) loom after that.