No. 20 Rutgers field hockey travels to face No. 2 Maryland
The Rutgers field hockey team is traveling this weekend to face Maryland in a ranked Big Ten matchup. The No. 20 Scarlet Knights (7-6, 3-3) are coming off a huge week, recording their highest-ranked win of the season and seeing national recognition for a few student-athletes.
A win over Northwestern last week was a huge boost for the program. The impressive offensive of the No. 3 Wildcats (10-3, 1-3) was warded off by Rutgers, leading to the team's national recognition on the defensive side of the ball.
Junior back Iris Langejans was the spotlight defender for the Knights last week. Her efforts were not unnoticed, being named the Defensive Player of the Week by not only the Big Ten but also nationally by the NFHCA.
Langejans was not the only player praised this week. Rutgers snagged two Big Ten awards this past week, with freshman midfielder Indy van Ek taking home the Freshman of the Week title. Van Ek was a key component in the Knights’ victory last Saturday, setting the tone by scoring the 1st goal of the game only 5 minutes in.
This is the freshman’s first career weekly award and the Knights’ second award for first-year players this season, with freshman back Puck Winter being recognized previously.
Langejans and van Ek lead Rutgers in goals this season with 3, making them key parts of the Knights offense as well as crucial to the team’s defensive side.
Rutgers has jumped up three spots in the national rankings from last week as a result of its big win against a top-three team. The program continues to hold its spot at fourth in the Big Ten rankings with a 3-3 conference record.
Its next opponent in the No. 2 Terrapins (13-1, 6-0) has been dominating the Big Ten and national rankings. Ranked second nationally and first in the Big Ten, Maryland is the Knights' most intimidating competitor yet.
The Terrapins are undefeated in conference play, having completely controlled the slate in Big Ten games so far. Maryland has only dropped one game all season to then-No. 7 Princeton and has been on a six-game win streak since that overtime loss.
Hope Rose leads the offense for the Terrapins. Rose has 10 goals in her 10 games this season with 27 points.
The game will kick off on Sunday at 4 p.m. and will be nationally televised on the Big Ten Network.
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