COLUMBUS, Ohio - No. 16 Rutgers field hockey was at a neutral site on Friday afternoon, playing on the campus of Ohio State University in the Big Ten / ACC Challenge. The Scarlet Knights fell in the contest by a 2-0 final margin to No. 11 ranked Syracuse.
RU goalkeeper
Emily Nicholls made three saves, as RU limited Syracuse to a season-low in shots on goals and goals. The former BIG EAST foe had previously led the country after averaging 10 goals per game across the first weekend of action.
Syracuse, who went to the NCAA Tournament in each of the past four seasons, had control of possession and the offense in the early going, taking all 10 shots in the opening half.
They got on the scoreboard first just under five minutes into the contest. The Orange earned the game's first penalty corner and capitalized on it. Bo van Kampen, the reigning ACC Offensive Player of the Year after a nine-goal opening weekend, scored her 10
th of the year by firing in a hard and low shot from the top of the circle just inside the right post.
The Orange added to their ledger early in the second quarter. Cuse played the ball into the far-right corner to Aubrey Turner. She weaved through the defense and found room in front to sneak through a shot and place the ball into the back of the cage.
Despite the high shot total, RU's defense clamped down at key times to limit the opposition chances. At halftime, they trailed 2-0.
The Orange took that lead into the third quarter. The tertiary frame saw just one shot taken overall, with most of the action in the midfield.
In the fourth quarter, Rutgers pushed back looking to cut into the deficit. With seven minutes to go, RU earned their first penalty corner and saw their first shot of the game, which was blocked in front. Play was fairly even across the final 30 minutes, with each team taking two shots apiece, and only one penalty corner overall across that time.
Rutgers continues play out in Columbus this weekend on Sunday against another ACC school, No. 3 Virginia. That contest will start at 11 a.m. and be live streamed on B1G+. Sunday's game is the second of four straight contests against teams ranked among the top-12 teams in the nation in this weekend's rankings. RU will continue play next weekend at No. 11 UConn and then host No. 10 Princeton, marking the first time since joining the Big Ten that RU has had four straight games against ranked non-conference opponents.
