No. 4 Rutgers field hockey defeats Indiana, falls to No. 1 Northwestern in penalty shootout
The Rutgers field hockey team went 1-1 this weekend, suffering its first loss of the season on Sunday. The Scarlet Knights (15-1, 6-1) defeated Indiana by a score of 4-2 on Friday before falling to Northwestern 2-1 in a penalty shootout on Sunday.
No. 4 Rutgers started its weekend by taking the field against the Hoosiers (5-12, 0-7) and earning a dominant 2-goal victory.
The Knights got things started early with a goal from graduate student forward Marique Dieudonne. Senior forward Bridy Molyneaux doubled the team's advantage with approximately 4 minutes left in the first period.
Theresa Ricci responded late in the first period to cut Indiana's deficit to 1 goal. The first period ended with the Hoosiers trailing 2-1.
In the second period, Rutgers outshot Indiana 3-1, but neither team could put the ball into the back of the cage. The Knights went into halftime with a 2-1 lead.
The Hoosiers continued to battle back and evened the score at 2-2 on a shot from Kylie Dawson approximately midway through the third period. That would be the only goal of the third period, and entering the fourth period, both teams remained tied.
Rutgers regained its lead approximately 4 minutes into the final frame on a penalty stroke goal from redshirt sophomore back Puck Winter.
Shortly after Winter's goal, junior midfielder Guillermina Causarano put the game away with a goal of her own. The goal marked Causarano's team-leading 12th goal of the season.
On Sunday, the Knights faced their biggest test of the season against the Wildcats (15-1, 7-0). The match was extremely hard fought as a win for either side would mean a guaranteed share of the Big Ten regular season title.
Rutgers got on the scoreboard first thanks to a first-period goal from junior midfielder Paulina Niklaus off of a corner. That would be the only goal either side would score in the first two periods, as the Knights went into halftime with a 1-0 lead.
No. 1 Northwestern increased its intensity in the second half and outshot Rutgers 2-0 in the third period but could not get a goal.
After keeping the Wildcats at bay for approximately 40 minutes, though, Northwestern finally broke through with a goal from Ilse Tromp approximately 4 minutes into the fourth period. The Wildcats would continue to push for a winner in the final minutes of the fourth period but were ultimately stifled by redshirt junior goaltender Sophia Howard.
The game would have to be decided in overtime.
Through two 10-minute overtime periods, both sides unsuccessfully pushed for a game-winner. Northwestern would have the majority of the chances in the first overtime, and the Knights would have the majority of the chances in the second overtime.
With a share of the Big Ten regular season title on the line, the game would go into a penalty shootout.
With a 3-3 tie in the penalty shootout, it seemed Rutgers had won the game after sophomore midfielder Ava Cickavage converted her potentially game-winning penalty shot. But after further review, it was deemed that Cickavage took more than the allowed time of 8 seconds, and the goal was wiped off the board.
After Winter missed the following penalty shot, Peyton Halsey converted her shot to give the Wildcats the win.
Howard had a phenomenal day in the net despite the loss, tying her season-high record of nine saves. Howard made many highlight stops between the pipes to keep the game 1-0 in the second and third periods.
Despite a loss and an end to the Knights' undefeated season, they still took positives from an otherwise tough game.
"I think the team is incredibly motivated," said head coach Meredith Civico. "We played a really tough, tight game, and we just have to look at ourselves and look at the little details. It was a matter of inches today."
Rutgers has one final match in the regular season, playing Iowa Friday on the road.
"This group has such a great mentality … They're just really motivated to keep going," Civico said.
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