Friday, August 28
West Long Branch, N.J.
4:00 PM
Rutgers
at
Monmouth
Photo by: Dakota Moyer
No.17 Field Hockey Opens Season Versus No. 18 Monmouth and Wagner
Aug 26 | Field Hockey
Friday (4 pm) and Sunday (1 pm) for two opening road games
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 17 Rutgers field hockey opens the 2026 season this weekend. The Scarlet Knights will play a pair of road games, travelling to local foes in No. 18 Monmouth (4 pm on Friday) and Wagner (1 pm on Sunday). The Monmouth game will bel live streamed on FLO College and air on NBC Sports Philadelphia. The Wagner game will be streamed by NEC Front Row.
Last year's team won nine games, which includes a ranked win over No. 16 UConn and four wins over Big Ten Conference foes. Rutgers finished with an RPI of 19, with an opponent success measure of 11. Rutgers played six overtime games during the season, including the double-overtime game in the Big Ten Tournament against Michigan.
The Scarlet Knights bring back eight players with at least one start last season, and five players who started all 18 games.Five of the top-eight point scorers from last season return as well as four of the seven players that had multiple goals. This includes the team's leading scorer (Olivia Fraticelli with 11 goals) and second leading scorer Sophie Kuiper (eight goals). Kuiper, who has 28 points in 35 collegiate games, will be a team captain for the upcoming year alongside back Olivia Beattie, a senior with 51 career starts across three seasons on the back line.
Emily Nicholls returns as RU's goalkeeper after a Big Ten All-Freshman Team placement last season. Her 108 was the most saves in a season for any RU goalkeeper under head coach Meredith Civico and the most for a RU goalkeeper since Rosalyn Wentko had 127 in the 2006 season. Nicholls had a 78.8% save percentage and 1.61 goals-against-average in her debut campaign. Both marks currently stand in RU's all-time top ten for goalkeepers, ninth and eighth respectively.
Two other freshmen started at least four games last season in Samantha Arnold and Julia Vinas Nieto. RU also brings back a quartet of players with at least 11 games of experience last season to add to RU's depth: Maddie Kidd, Lyla Rehill, Caroline DeKenipp and Maddie Olshemski. Rutgers will bring in nine newcomers for the upcoming season, a mix of freshmen, transfers and older international players. That includes freshmen Ella Gandy, Lauren Iaccio, Eden Doucelin, Sarah Torney and Paige Knesich. RU has two collegiate transfers in Talia Schenck (Princeton) and Frederique Vernooij (Virginia). The Scarlet Knights also bring in two international players with one season of collegiate eligibility: Laura Loycke and Emma Uprichard.
Departures include RU's two all-Big Ten and all-region selections from last season, Second Team All-American and Rutgers' all-time record holder in defensive saves, Puck Winter, and First Team All-Region and First Team All-Big Ten selection Paulina Niklaus. Alongside team captain Vicky Jure, Olivia de Zwaan, Ashley Arnold and Dani Gindville, RU must replace 50 points from last season, 40% of the team's output, alongside back Natalie Arnold and Erica Babitts on the defensive end.
Head coach Meredith Civico enters her 15th season at the helm, the second longest tenured RU head coach. Leading a team built on a team-centric family culture, Civico has had great success in growing the program. She enters this season with 144 wins, seeking to become the second RU head coach to earn her 150th career win. RU has won at least nine games in 11 of the past 14 seasons and has at least four Big Ten wins in seven of the past eight.
Monmouth enters the weekend ranked No. 18 in the nation. MU is coming off of a 13-4 season last year, advancing to the CAA Championship Game. The Hawks were ranked as high as No. 11 in the nation during the season, a program-best. MU has won 12+ games for three straight season and claimed double-digit wins in 10 straight years dating back to the 2016 season.
Monmouth was picked first in the CAA preseason poll, claiming four of seven first place votes and finishing just ahead of Drexel, who RU faced in its first preseason scrimmage.
Eulalie Brouwers is the reigning CAA Defensive Player of the Year and was a All-Region selection. She was one of four All-Region selections for the Hawks last year, alongside Milla Frye (eight goals, two assists), Florence Van Doorn (six goals and six assists as the CAA Rookie of the Year) and Claire Campen (12 goals).
Last season, No. 18 Monmouth came to No. 17 RU and earned a 4-2 win despite a pair of goals from Paulina Niklaus. RU had won the prior six games in the series. The Scarlet Knights lead the all-time series against their in-state foe, 9-5.
Series History vs. Monmouth (9-5)
Date H/A W/L Score
10/9/02 A L 2-3
10/1/03 H W 3-2 (ot)
9/19/10 H L 3-4
9/18/11 H L 1-2
8/30/12 A W 4-1
10/9/13 H W 4-3 (ot)
10/12/14 A L 3-2
10/9/15 H W 4-2
9/15/19 H W 2-1
9/17/21 H W 3-2
9/9/22 H W 1-0 (2ot)
10/8/23 H W 4-2
9/6/24 A W 3-2 (2ot)
9/21/25 H L 4-2
Last season, RU defeated Wagner, 5-1, in the first ever meeting between the two schools. RU had five different goal scorers in the season opener, with four of those players returning for this season (Maddie Kidd, Lyla Rehill, Maddie Olshemski and Olivia Fraticelli).
Wagner was picked first in the NEC Preseason Poll for the first time in program history. The Seahawks were 8-12 last season and 6-3 in the NEC last season, advancing to the NEC title game before falling to Fairfield.
Aubrey Mytych enters her third season as the team's head coach, with a NEC title game appearance in both seasons. Her brother, Steve Mytych, previously was on the coaching staff for Rutgers wrestling from 2018 to 2026.
Floortje Leunisse returns as the team's leading scorer, a Second Team All-NEC and Second Team All-Region selection with nine goals and six assists. She has 19 goals and 14 assists in her career. Fellow Netherlands native Julia de Leeuw returns after earning a spot on the NEC Second Team last year as a rookie, where the back added five goals and two assists.
Claire Evans and Victoria Bruno return for Wagner as team captains. Evans has 38 starts in her Wagner career and is a returning captain on the defensive end. Burno is a Parsippany, N.J. native, a forward with 35 career games played. The team must replace departing captain and All-NEC Second team pick Hailey Bianchino, who had four goals and four assists last year.
Rutgers will be at home next weekend as the host of a region of the Big Ten / ACC Challenge. RU will play host to four games featuring RU, Ohio State, Virginia and Syracuse. The Scarlet Knights play against No. 5 Virginia on Friday and No. 9 Syracuse on Sunday.
| About Rutgers |
Last year's team won nine games, which includes a ranked win over No. 16 UConn and four wins over Big Ten Conference foes. Rutgers finished with an RPI of 19, with an opponent success measure of 11. Rutgers played six overtime games during the season, including the double-overtime game in the Big Ten Tournament against Michigan.
The Scarlet Knights bring back eight players with at least one start last season, and five players who started all 18 games.Five of the top-eight point scorers from last season return as well as four of the seven players that had multiple goals. This includes the team's leading scorer (Olivia Fraticelli with 11 goals) and second leading scorer Sophie Kuiper (eight goals). Kuiper, who has 28 points in 35 collegiate games, will be a team captain for the upcoming year alongside back Olivia Beattie, a senior with 51 career starts across three seasons on the back line.
Emily Nicholls returns as RU's goalkeeper after a Big Ten All-Freshman Team placement last season. Her 108 was the most saves in a season for any RU goalkeeper under head coach Meredith Civico and the most for a RU goalkeeper since Rosalyn Wentko had 127 in the 2006 season. Nicholls had a 78.8% save percentage and 1.61 goals-against-average in her debut campaign. Both marks currently stand in RU's all-time top ten for goalkeepers, ninth and eighth respectively.
Two other freshmen started at least four games last season in Samantha Arnold and Julia Vinas Nieto. RU also brings back a quartet of players with at least 11 games of experience last season to add to RU's depth: Maddie Kidd, Lyla Rehill, Caroline DeKenipp and Maddie Olshemski. Rutgers will bring in nine newcomers for the upcoming season, a mix of freshmen, transfers and older international players. That includes freshmen Ella Gandy, Lauren Iaccio, Eden Doucelin, Sarah Torney and Paige Knesich. RU has two collegiate transfers in Talia Schenck (Princeton) and Frederique Vernooij (Virginia). The Scarlet Knights also bring in two international players with one season of collegiate eligibility: Laura Loycke and Emma Uprichard.
Departures include RU's two all-Big Ten and all-region selections from last season, Second Team All-American and Rutgers' all-time record holder in defensive saves, Puck Winter, and First Team All-Region and First Team All-Big Ten selection Paulina Niklaus. Alongside team captain Vicky Jure, Olivia de Zwaan, Ashley Arnold and Dani Gindville, RU must replace 50 points from last season, 40% of the team's output, alongside back Natalie Arnold and Erica Babitts on the defensive end.
Head coach Meredith Civico enters her 15th season at the helm, the second longest tenured RU head coach. Leading a team built on a team-centric family culture, Civico has had great success in growing the program. She enters this season with 144 wins, seeking to become the second RU head coach to earn her 150th career win. RU has won at least nine games in 11 of the past 14 seasons and has at least four Big Ten wins in seven of the past eight.
| Rutgers Weekend Notes |
- Rutgers enters the game against Monmouth with a 12-2 record in season openers under head coach Meredith Civico.
- RU is 18-9 against non-conference foes over the past three seasons.
- RU was 5-1 in true road games last season
- A win over Monmouth would be the team's 54th ranked win since 2012 and 51st since 2017.
- Rutgers has 34 ranked wins since the start of the spring 2021 season.
- Monmouth is one of nine teams on RU's schedule to be ranked in the preseason of NFHCA Coaches Poll.
- Rutgers is the fifth highest ranked Big Ten team in the preseason poll.
- This will be the fourth time that RU faces a ranked Monmouth team since 2021, with RU 2-1 in those three games (wins in 2021 over No. 21 MU and 2022 over No. 25 MU).
- Since the start of 2018, Rutgers has a 92-56 record for a .622 % winning percentage. In that time, RU has made three NCAA Tournaments, won the 2021 Big Ten Tournament, and claimed 42 ranked wins, including 15 victories over top-10 foes.
| About Monmouth |
Monmouth enters the weekend ranked No. 18 in the nation. MU is coming off of a 13-4 season last year, advancing to the CAA Championship Game. The Hawks were ranked as high as No. 11 in the nation during the season, a program-best. MU has won 12+ games for three straight season and claimed double-digit wins in 10 straight years dating back to the 2016 season.
Monmouth was picked first in the CAA preseason poll, claiming four of seven first place votes and finishing just ahead of Drexel, who RU faced in its first preseason scrimmage.
Eulalie Brouwers is the reigning CAA Defensive Player of the Year and was a All-Region selection. She was one of four All-Region selections for the Hawks last year, alongside Milla Frye (eight goals, two assists), Florence Van Doorn (six goals and six assists as the CAA Rookie of the Year) and Claire Campen (12 goals).
Last season, No. 18 Monmouth came to No. 17 RU and earned a 4-2 win despite a pair of goals from Paulina Niklaus. RU had won the prior six games in the series. The Scarlet Knights lead the all-time series against their in-state foe, 9-5.
Series History vs. Monmouth (9-5)
Date H/A W/L Score
10/9/02 A L 2-3
10/1/03 H W 3-2 (ot)
9/19/10 H L 3-4
9/18/11 H L 1-2
8/30/12 A W 4-1
10/9/13 H W 4-3 (ot)
10/12/14 A L 3-2
10/9/15 H W 4-2
9/15/19 H W 2-1
9/17/21 H W 3-2
9/9/22 H W 1-0 (2ot)
10/8/23 H W 4-2
9/6/24 A W 3-2 (2ot)
9/21/25 H L 4-2
| About Wagner |
Last season, RU defeated Wagner, 5-1, in the first ever meeting between the two schools. RU had five different goal scorers in the season opener, with four of those players returning for this season (Maddie Kidd, Lyla Rehill, Maddie Olshemski and Olivia Fraticelli).
Wagner was picked first in the NEC Preseason Poll for the first time in program history. The Seahawks were 8-12 last season and 6-3 in the NEC last season, advancing to the NEC title game before falling to Fairfield.
Aubrey Mytych enters her third season as the team's head coach, with a NEC title game appearance in both seasons. Her brother, Steve Mytych, previously was on the coaching staff for Rutgers wrestling from 2018 to 2026.
Floortje Leunisse returns as the team's leading scorer, a Second Team All-NEC and Second Team All-Region selection with nine goals and six assists. She has 19 goals and 14 assists in her career. Fellow Netherlands native Julia de Leeuw returns after earning a spot on the NEC Second Team last year as a rookie, where the back added five goals and two assists.
Claire Evans and Victoria Bruno return for Wagner as team captains. Evans has 38 starts in her Wagner career and is a returning captain on the defensive end. Burno is a Parsippany, N.J. native, a forward with 35 career games played. The team must replace departing captain and All-NEC Second team pick Hailey Bianchino, who had four goals and four assists last year.
| Up Next |
Rutgers will be at home next weekend as the host of a region of the Big Ten / ACC Challenge. RU will play host to four games featuring RU, Ohio State, Virginia and Syracuse. The Scarlet Knights play against No. 5 Virginia on Friday and No. 9 Syracuse on Sunday.
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