PISCATAWAY, N.J.- No. 18 Rutgers field hockey is back in action for two games this weekend, splitting action home and away. RU heads to Storrs to face No. 16 UConn on Friday and then returns home on Sunday to host No. 11 Princeton in the Pride Game.
Friday at UConn (3 pm):
Live Stream |
Live Stats
Sunday vs. Princeton (12 pm):
Live Stream (B1G+, Dom Savino and
Sophia Howard) |
Live Stats
Rutgers has opened the season with a 2-2 record. RU started with 2-0 wins against Wagner and Vermont on the opening weekend by a combined 7-1 margin. Last weekend, RU traveled to Columbus, Ohio to play in the Big Ten / ACC Challenge. In a pair of tightly contested games against ACC schools, RU fell to No. 11 Syracuse (2-0) and No. 3 Virginia (1-0).
Emily Nicholls, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week in the First Week of the season, has a save percentage of 86.4%, eighth nationally and second in the Big Ten. The redshirt freshman goalkeeper is also second in the league and 11
th in the country with a goals-against-average of 0.82, having allowed just three goals in 220 minutes of action. She also leads the league with 4.75 saves per game.
Rutgers entered the season ranked at No. 16 in the NFHCA Preseason Coaches Poll, and came in at No. 18 in the Week Two Poll. Since the Scarlet Knights first earned a ranking under
Meredith Civico in 2017, the Scarlet Knights have earned a ranking at one point each season, including every preseason poll since 2018.
Rutgers is looking for its first win ranked this season in matching up with No. 16 UConn and No. 11 Princeton, in the midst of the first four-game stretch against ranked non-conference opponents since
Meredith Civico took the helm of the program. Rutgers has had a stretch of at least four straight games against ranked teams every season since Spring 2021 (covid-adjusted 2020 season)
UConn went 17-4 overall last season and won the BIG EAST regular season and Tournament champions to make the NCAA Tournament as the No. 3 overall seed. The team was picked to finish first in the league's preseason coaches' poll. The Huskies are 2-1, defeating New Hampshire (4-3) and Brown (3-2) with the lone loss coming in a penalty shootout against No. 9 St. Joe's.
Goalkeeper Natalie Mckenna was a First Team All-Conference, Second Team All-Region and the BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year last year, and has started the year 10
th nationally with 7.5 saves per game.
Sol Simone, a three-time First Team All-Region selection and All-American last year, was named the BIG EAST Preseason Midfielder of the Year. She scored 11 goals across the past two seasons.
Pien Prins, a freshman from the Netherlands with three goals, and Julia Bressler, a two-time All-Region player with two goals this season, are the two players with multiple goals this season.
UConn and Rutgers have played 37 times, with RU winning five times and claiming a tie. Rutgers has won three of the last four games dating back to 2021, all of them coming in overtime or a penalty shootout.
Princeton, the preseason Ivy League favorite after winning the league in the regular season and reaching the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers split their opening weekend, beating Old Dominion and falling by one goal to No. 2 UNC.
Beth Yeager ranks fourth in Division I in career goals scored by active players with 46. A First Team All-American and three-time Ivy Offensive Player of the Year, she was joined on the First Team All-Ivy last season by her fellow captain Ella Cashman.
Princeton has a 20-7-1 advantage in the all-time series. After not playing from 2006-2016, since 2017, RU and Princeton have played near-annually (when not adjusted by Covid), and RU is 4-2 in that time.
Versus UConn
- 53rd ranked wins since 2012 and 50th since 2017
- Sixth win over UConn
- Fourth win over a ranked UConn team since 2021
- 4-1 record in last five games vs. UConn after starting 2-30-1 in the first 33 meetings
Versus Princeton
- 18th win over a top-12 team since 2021
- Fifth ranked win over Princeton since 2018
- Eighth win overall over Princeton
- 5-2 in the last seven games against the Tigers
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 tied for 9
th in NCAA history with 25
career defensive saves.
With one more defensive save, Winter become the outright Big Ten leader in career defensive saves, and would have the second most defensive save of any D-I NCAA player since 2001 (24 seasons).
- Michelle Cargen, Holy Cross (1987-90): 58
- Susan Crafts, Virginia (1982-85): 38
- Amy Gielle, William & Mary (1993-96): 34
- Beth Senic, Ohio State (1985-88): 31
- Angie King, Quinnipiac (2013-16): 31
- Chantal Lacroix, Holy Cross (1990-93): 30
- Wendy Barker, Holy Cross (1985-88): 29
- Monica McCorry, Bucknell (1998-01): 29
T-9. Puck Winter, Rutgers: 25
T-9. Andrea Wiggins (1988-91): 25
T-9. Jenn Sciulli, Ohio State (2008-11): 25
T-9. Emily Trudeau, Pacific (2009-12): 25
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."
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.
Cogdell returns for her sophomore campaign after being recognized on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team in her debut campaign. The native of Badingham, England started all 17 games at midfield, had two goals and an assist, and was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week after the team's win over No. 7 Iowa. She was also named to the NFHCA National Academic Squad.
Niklaus returns to the squad after an All-American campaign last year. The German was a Third Team All-American, First Team All-Big Ten, First Team All-Region and All-Big Ten Tournament team selection last season. It was her second straight season as an all-conference and all-region selection, and she has scored 10 goals and seven assists in 34 career starts.
Winter returns for her fourth season as a Scarlet Knight as the program's all-time leader in defensive saves, posting 25 in her career after leading the NCAA in 2023 (with 12) and 2024 (with nine) and stands at ninth all-time in NCAA history in the stat. Winter is a two-time All-Big Ten and three-time All-Region player, and the back was the 2022 Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Across 55 career starts she also has scored 12 goals.
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.
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.
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. 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 84-47, a winning percentage of 64%, with over half of those wins coming against ranked teams. Rutgers has 17 ranked wins in the past five seasons and 42 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.
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.
