PISCATAWAY, N.J.- No. 19 Rutgers field hockey had an offensive outburst on Sunday afternoon in an 8-0 victory over Columbia. The Scarlet Knights had six different goal scorers, led by two goals apiece from
Puck Winter and
Olivia Fraticelli, as RU dominated en route to improving to 6-4 overall in the nonconference finale while dropping CU to 3-4 overall.
In addition to Winter and Fraticelli, RU saw goals from
Paulina Niklaus,
Martha Goodridge,
Maddie Kidd and
Sophie Kuiper. Niklaus, Goodridge, Kuiper, Winter, Cogdell,
Ashley Arnold,
Vicky Jure and Fraticelli all added assists.
Rutgers came out of the gate firing, outshooting Columbia 10-0 in the opening quarter, and scoring two goals in the first six minutes of the contest and held control of the game from there. The Scarlet Knights had a 7-2 advantage in corners and a 22-5 shot advantage for the game, with a 17-1 shots on goal margin for the home team.
On a hot Sunday afternoon, Rutgers displayed its depth. 21 players overall saw game action, including both goalkeepers.
Emily Nicholls earned the win, shutting out Columbia across the first three quarters, while
Erica Babitts handled the final frame. Five players factored in on multiple goals, with at least one goal and one assist (Niklaus, Goodridge, Kuiper, Winter, Fraticelli). 10 different players recorded at least one shot in the game.
The contest was RU's final non-conference game of the season, with the Scarlet Knights going 5-4 against non-Big Ten foes this season. The game was a brief respite from Big Ten Conference play, which RU started on Friday in an overtime thriller, taking down Ohio State 2-1 in overtime on Friday afternoon. In that contest, Kuiper and Goodridge were the goal scorers, and each tallied again against the Lions.
Puck Winter, who was crucial with a pair of defensive saves in the final minutes of regulation against the Buckeyes, had her first multi-goal game of the season and first multi-goal game since a hat trick against Villanova on September 8, 2023. Fraticelli had her second multi-goal game of the season, also tallying twice against New Hampshire nine days earlier.
Rutgers' eight goals were the most since August of 2018, when RU scored eight goals against Hofstra. It marked the first time over that span that RU had more than six goals in fact.
The Scarlet Knights resume Big Ten Conference play next weekend with a trip to the state of Michigan. RU travels first to Michigan State for a 3 pm game on Friday. Then, it is a Big Ten Network showdown against No. 12 Michigan on Sunday at noon.
