No. 18 Field Hockey Defeats No. 15 Indiana in Regular Season Finale

Friday, October 30

Piscataway, N.J.

12:00 PM

Rutgers

(11-7, 5-3)

Indiana

(9-7, 4-4)

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Indiana	1	0	0	0	1
Rutgers	0	2	0	0	2

Oct 30 | Field Hockey

Box Score

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 18 Rutgers field hockey closed out the regular season on Friday with a victory over No. 15 Indiana. The Scarlet Knights secured a 2-1 victory to improve to 11-7 overall and holding a 5-3 record in the Big Ten. Indiana falls to 9-7 overall and 4-4 in the Big Ten.

Rutgers closed out the regular season with wins in six of its past seven games. The Scarlet Knights will now head to the Big Ten Tournament, with matchups determined for Wednesday's Quarterfinals following the conclusion of all Big Ten games. Rutgers is assured of finishing no worse than 5^th in the Big Ten standings, projected for the 4 vs. 5 game at 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

Game Summary

The Scarlet Knights goals came from Sophie Kuiper and Laura Loycke. Olivia Stazi and Kuiper each had an assist. Emily Nicholls had six saves. RU won the game despite IU having an advantage in shots (10-6) and corners (3-0).

Indiana scored first midway through the first quarter. The Hoosiers sent in a long pass to the top of the circle, where it was corralled by an IU forward. She found space to launch in a shot to the top of the net for an early advantage for the visitors.

RU had a series of first half chances and finally broke through with two goals late in the opening half. On the first, Emma Uprichard sent in a pass from the side into a collection of players in front. Olivia Stazi got a touch on it and captain Sophie Kuiper sent it home for an equalizer.

Shortly after, RU tallied again in the final 30 seconds of the opening half. Sophie Kuiper sent a bouncing pass down the middle, where Laura Loycke touched it home for the lead.

Indiana pulled their goalkeeper with 6 minutes to play and pressed for an equalizer. Indiana had a series of corners that RU defended late and the home team closed out the win.

Postgame Notes

With the victory, Rutgers earned its fourth ranked win of the season, having previously defeated No. 6 Iowa, No. 12 Syracuse and No. 18 Michigan. Rutgers has won at least for ranked games in eight of the past nine seasons.

RU has a conference record better than .500 for the fourth time in the past seven seasons. The Scarlet Knights, ranked No. 15 in the RPI entering the contest, have won at least 10 games in five of the past nine seasons.

The Scarlet Knights are now 13-4-1 all-time against Indiana. Since 2017, RU has won nine of the last 11 meetings and are 9-0 against IU on their home field.