The 2024 Rutgers field hockey season, an eight win campaign, was highlighted by some Big moments.

The Scarlet Knights earned resounding non-conference wins over Vermont (5-0) and Miami (Ohio) (6-1), both teams that won their conference tournament and played in the NCAA Tournament. 

On September 27, RU earned its highest ranked win of the season, as it toppled No. 7 Iowa in dramatic fashion, winning 3-2. The Scarlet Knights got two goals from Paulina Niklaus in regulation, then battled the Hawkeyes through two overtime sessions to enter the penalty shootout. Olivia Fraticelli, Paulina Niklaus and Kara Heck scored in the shootout, with a strong performance in goal from Sophia Howard ensuring a 3-1 margin there for the victory. 

The Scarlet Knights later ran off three straight Big Ten wins to close conference play. 

RU downed Michigan State, 2-0 to start the streak on a Friday. That Sunday, the Scarlet Knights made it a winning weekend overall with the highest ranked win of the season, taking down No. 3 Ohio State, 1-0. Sophie Kuiper had the lone goal against the Buckeyes in the first quarter, and outstanding team defense made it stand up. 

Another 1-0 victory came the next weekend, as RU took down No. 17 Penn State. On Senior Day, Sophia Howard had her third consecutive shutout to make Puck Winter’s second quarter the deciding marker in downing the Nittany Lions. 

The Scarlet Knights finished league play with a 4-4 record, representing the 6th time over the past 7 seasons RU finished .500 or better in conference play. RU earned the No. 4 seed, the third time in the past four seasons that RU earned a top-4 seed. 

The Scarlet Knights acquitted themselves well down in College Park for the conference tournament. The team opened up against a top-ten foe in Ohio State, earning a 2-1 victory over the No. 7 Buckeyes. Rutgers controlled play for much of the game, Kara Heck scored twice in an eight-minute span in the middle of the game, and RU claimed their fifth all-time Big Ten Tournament win. 

The season ultimately ended in the Semifinals, where RU had an outstanding effort against the ultimate national champions, Northwestern. The Scarlet Knights never relented against the No. 1 Wildcats and kept the game in doubt until the waning minutes. 

Puck Winter finished the 2024 season with 25 defensive saves for her career. In doing so, she became RU's career record holder in the statistic, moving past Brandi Bailey, who had 24 defensive saves across 84 games from 1993-1996. Winter accomplished the feat in just 55 games across three seasons. Winter reached the record in style, with a career-high four defensive saves in the Big Ten Tournament Semifinals against No. 1 Northwestern. 

Winter gave her nine defensive saves on the year, which ties her for the nation's lead. Winter led the nation in the statistic for the second straight season, doing so last year with 12 defensive saves in the 2023 season. 

Winter's 25 defensive saves are tied for the 8th most all-time in NCAA history. The all-time record is 58, set from 1987-1990 by Michelle Cargen at Holy Cross. Winter was just the ninth player all-time to record at least four defensive saves in a single game, and just the second to do so since 2014. It was the most defensive saves ever by a player on a active Big Ten team and the second most ever by a Rutgers' player (Brandi Bailey, five, 1996 vs. Syracuse). 

The Scarlet Knights were well recognized in postseason awards. 

All-Big Ten selections 

• First Team: Paulina Niklaus
• Second Team: Guillermina Causarano, Puck Winter
• All-Freshman Team: Anna Cogdell
• Sportsmanship Award: Vicky Jure

All-Region Selections 

• First Team: Guillermina Causarano, Paulina Niklaus
• Second Team: Puck Winter

16 Academic All-Big Ten selections

All-ECAC: Guillermina Causarano, Puck Winter

NFHCA Senior Team: Guillermina Causarano

All-American: Paulina Niklaus (Third Team)

Rutgers finished the season at 8-9 overall. The team was No. 14 in the RPI, the highest RPI for a team that did not make the NCAA Tournament. RU played eight of its 17 games against NCAA Tournament teams and 10 games against teams in the top-20 of the RPI, including six games against top-10 RPI teams.  Seven of the nine losses were to NCAA Tournament teams.

RU has won 51 of their past 78 games over the past four seasons. During the year, RU defeated four ranked teams: No. 3 Ohio State, No. 7 Iowa, No. 7 Ohio State, and No. 17 Penn State. Rutgers has 17 ranked wins in the past five seasons and 41 ranked wins since 2018, which includes 16 top-10 wins since 2021. The team was ranked in the top-20 for numerous weeks in both the NFHCA Coaches Poll and the RPI rankings. 

Off the field, the team also excelled in the classroom. RU posted a 3.571 GPA and holds a 3.610 cumulative GPA. Five students earned a perfect 4.0 GPA and 14 students earned Dean’s List honors.