PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 17 Rutgers field hockey hosts No. 11 Maryland on Friday in a one-game week that represents RU's final home game of the season. The Scarlet Knights host the Terps in a 3 p.m. contest. It will be the team's Unity Game, partnering with A Long Talk. Friday's game will be on B1G+ with Dom Savino and former Rutgers letterwinner and 2021 Big Ten Tournament champion Liz Romano on the call.

About Rutgers

Rutgers enters the weekend with an 8-7 overall record and a 3-3 mark in league play. After entering last weekend having won four of the past five games, the Scarlet Knights took losses last weekend to a pair of top-12 ranked foes at home (No. 1 Northwestern, 5-0, and No. 11 Iowa, 4-3).

Across the final two weeks of the regular season, RU plays two Friday games. Following the contest against Maryland, RU travels to State College to face the Nittany Lions next Friday in the regular season finale. RU is one of five teams between three and five conference wins as teams position themselves towards the Big Ten Tournament, which is held this year from November 6-9 in Bloomington, Indiana. Seven of the league's nine field hockey playing schools qualify for the field. 

On Sunday, RU battled against No. 11 Iowa but was unable to hold onto leads of 2-0 and 3-2. Sophie Kuiper, Paulina Niklaus and Olivia Fraticelli scored the goals in the game for RU. As part of the contest, RU welcomed back over 30 letterwinners for Letterwinners Day celebrations on Homecoming Weekend, and honored seven seniors (Natalie Arnold, Dani Gindville, Puck Winter, Ashley Arnold, Erica Babitts, Vicky Jure and Paulina Niklaus) in a postgame ceremony.

Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Emily Nicholls has a 78.9% save percentage and a 1.64 goals-against-average. Her 90 saves leads the Big Ten. She is the first Rutgers goalkeeper to record 90 saves in a season since Shevaun Hayes made 103 stops in 2014-15, the first year for the Scarlet Knights as a member of the Big Ten Conference.

The Scarlet Knights are ranked No. 18 in the RPI this week and No. 17 in the NFHCA Coaches Poll. The Scarlet Knights have a the seventh toughest strength of schedule and have played eight top-20 RPI teams. That gives them the toughest strength of schedule metric of all Big Ten teams. Of RU's seven losses, they have come to teams ranked 2,4,5,9,13,16, and 19 in this week's RPI.

Rutgers head coach Meredith Civico finished her collegiate field hockey career at the University of Maryland. Under current Maryland head coach Missy Meharg, Civico helped UM to the 2005 NCAA National Championship.

About Maryland

Maryland enters the game with an 8-6 overall record, and 4-3 mark in conference play. Of the six losses, four of them have come against top-10 teams, while UMD has four ranked wins. After starting the year 6-2 overall and 2-0 in league play, the Terps have lost four of their past six games, with all four of those losses coming by one goal, and two of them in games extending to overtime or shootout.

The Terps have scored 24 goals in 14 games, and scored just 13 goals in the past nine games and nine goals in the last seven games. 20 of those 24 goals have been scored by four players: Jordyn Hollamon (6), Maci Bradford (5), Ella Gaitan (5) and Josie Hollamon (4). Goalkeeper Alyssa Klebasko has a 1.06 goals-against-average (third in the Big Ten) and 74.6% save percentage.

Rutgers is 5-37-1 all-time against Maryland. RU won games in 2023 (a 3-2 shootout win at home) and 2021 (a 1-0 home win on a Milena Redlingshoefer penalty stroke and Gianna Glatz 12-save shutout), so the Terps have a slim 3-2 advantage in the past five games after previously winning the first nine games of the Big Ten era and a 17-game winning streak entering the 2021 contest.

The Terps are 21^st in the RPI this week. Maryland assistant coach Maddy Sposito previously spent nine seasons on the staff at Rutgers.

With a Win over Maryland

• 42 ranked wins since 2018
• 19 ranked wins in the past five seasons
• 3^rd win over Maryland since 2021 and sixth win all-time versus the Terps

Milestone Tracker: Puck Winter, Defensive Saves

Puck Winter is on the top-10 all time in NCAA history in defensive saves. The reigning two-time NCAA stat leader in the statistic, Winter is Rutgers all-time leader, second in the Big Ten and 6^th in NCAA history, currently holding the NCAA lead this season.

1. Michelle Cargen, Holy Cross (1987-90): 58
2. Susan Crafts, Virginia (1982-85): 38
3. Amy Gielle, William & Mary (1993-96): 34
4. Beth Senic, Ohio State (1985-88): 31
5. Angie King, Quinnipiac (2013-16): 31
6. Chantal Lacroix, Holy Cross (1990-93): 30

T-6. Puck Winter, Rutgers: 30

In-Season Accolades

Puck Winter: Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 29) | NFHCA National Defensive Player of the Week

• Two defensive saves vs. Ohio State, two goals vs. Columbia

Martha Goodridge: Big Ten Freshman of the Week (Sept. 29)

• Game-winning goal in OT vs. Ohio State, goal and assist vs. Columbia

Puck Winter: Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 15)

• Had defensive save vs. Princeton, game-winning goal against No. 16 UConn

Emily Nicholls: Big Ten Freshman of the Week (Sept. 15)

• Six saves at No. 16 UConn, 11 saves against No. 11 Princeton

Emily Nicholls: Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 2)

• Allowed zero goals, made 11 saves in wins over Wagner and Vermont

Preseason Accolades

Rutgers field hockey had three players named to the preseason Big Ten Players to Watch List. Anna Cogdell, Paulina Niklaus and Puck Winter were all recognized by the league office. The trio all earned all-conference recognition to close out last season as well.

Additionally, six student athletes from Rutgers were recognized by USA Field Hockey in the selections for the 2025 Senior Nexus Championship. Olivia Fraticelli, Dani Gindville, Maddie Kidd and Emily Nicholls were selected to compete, while Natalie Arnold and Maddie Olshemski were named as alternates.

Nicholls and Fraticelli were selected as well by USA Field Hockey for the U-21 Junior Women's National Team Selection Camp.

Recent History

Rutgers finished last 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.

Entering this season, RU has won 55 of their past 86 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. The team was ranked in the top-20 for numerous weeks in both the NFHCA Coaches Poll and the RPI rankings.

Since 2018, field hockey is 88-51, a winning percentage of 63%, with over half of those wins coming against ranked teams. Rutgers has 18 ranked wins in the past six seasons and 43 ranked wins since 2018, which includes 16 top-10 wins since 2021. In 2018, RU went to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 32 years, then made two additional NCAA Tournaments over the next five years. The team set the program record for wins in 2021 (19) and in 2023 had the second most wins in program history (16). RU was the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament in 2021 after winning the Big Ten Tournament on home turf.  

International Knights

Rutgers field hockey alumn Katie Larmour was recently honored with her first ever selection to the senior national team for her country. Larmour earned six caps with Team Ireland this summer, playing against Team USA in an exhibition match in Charlotte, then competing for Team Ireland in early August in the EuroHockey Championships.

Alumn Iris Langejans also recently begun a professional career back home in the Netherlands, signing with HDM Dames 1 to play at the highest level of Dutch professional field hockey.

Civico Emphasizes Team Culture

Since her first day as head coach, the foundation of Rutgers Field Hockey has been the culture, about intentionally creating a family atmosphere that allows student-athletes to thrive as students, as athletes and as people. By attracting and recruiting the very best players and staff over her fourteen years as head coach, and giving them an environment in which they flourish, Meredith Civico has built the program into one of the top in the Big Ten – and the nation.  The core tenant for the program has been the establishment of a strong, positive culture where progression is expected, differences are celebrated and family is everything. The feeling of togetherness in the locker room and when competing is what makes this team special and unique.

"Culture is something you have to work at every single day; it doesn't just happen," Civico explained. "We have this acronym: RUTGERS that stands for our core values: Relentless, United, Tenacious, Gritty, Excellence, Respect, Strength. These aren't just words on a wall – they're how we live. We're not just coaching a sport; we're coaching people. Sports are played by people, and people are the most important."