Wednesday, November 4
Columbus, Ohio
11:00 AM
Rutgers
vs
Indiana University
Nov 02 | Field Hockey
PISCATAWAY, N.J. ā No. 14Ā Rutgers field hockey heads will begin postseason play this week at the Big Ten Tournament. RU will begin play on a Wednesday for the first time in the new tournament format. The Scarlet Knights earned the No. 4 seed and will face No. 5 seed and No. 17 ranked Indiana in the Quarterfinals (11 a.m., B1G+).
About Rutgers
Rutgers enters the postseason with an 11-7 record. RU went 5-3 in one of the nation's top conferences. RU has won six of the past seven and are 9-3 over the last 12 games dating back to September 18.
The Scarlet Knights, playing in the Big Ten (which was ranked as the No. 1 Conference by the RPI as of Monday), hold a RPI ranking of 14. Rutgers' strength of schedule metric ranks among the top nationally, with an opponent success measure of sixth nationally.
As a team, Rutgers has scored 50 goals this season. The last time that RU reached that goal total for a season was in 2018 (when Rutgers scored exactly 50 goals across 19 games). The 2016 team scored 54 goals, the most scored by a Meredith Civico team.
Olivia Fraticelli leads the team with 13 goals, which is third in the Big Ten. Her 27 points are sixth in the Big Ten. The Toms River, N.J .native has scored 13 goals on just 31 shots (42% of her shots have scored). Her 13 goals are seventh on RU's single-season goal list, while she is 12th on the single-season points list. Her 24 career goals are tied for 7th all-time at Rutgers. Her 51 career points are 21st all-time at Rutgers. One more goal would tie Fraticelli for sixth all-time at RU with Mary Beth Dwyer (1982-85). She can reach a tie for 14th on RU's all-time points list with Austyn Cuneo (2017-19) with two more points.
Emily Nicholls leads the Big Ten with 4.61 saves per game. She is nine saves away from 200 saves for her career. Nicholls made career-high 16 saves, including stopping a penalty stroke in overtime,Ā in RU's 4-3 overtime win over No. 6 Iowa. That total was the most in a single game for any RU goalkeeper since at least 2012 and the most for any Big Ten goalkeeper since 2024.
Rutgers had five players earn All-Big Ten accolades on Tuesday. Anna Cogdell, Olivia Fraticelli, Talia Schenck and Eden Doucelin were named Second Team All-Big Ten. Doucelin and Ella Gandy were named to the All-Freshman team.Ā
Quotable
"We are thrilled to once again be back at the Big Ten Tournament, especially considering how competitive our conference has been this season," head coach Meredith Civico said. "Indiana is an excellent team, and it was a very close game against them this past Friday. To play them again with such a quick turnaround will be interesting - I'm sure they will do all they can to reverse the result. We will, of course, be doing all we can to win. I am very proud of the way our team has been competing and of their belief in themselves and one another."
About Indiana
IU has been ranked for the last six weeks, reaching as high as no. 11 in the country. The team had their best 10-game start to a season since 2014 when they opened at 7-3 and won their first four Big Ten games for their best conference start since 2005. The Hoosiers now stand at 9-7 overall and 4-4 in league play, entering on a four-game losing streak in three straight ranked matchups (No. 2 Northwestern, No. 19 Penn State, No. 1 Maryland, No. 18 Rutgers). All seven losses this year have come to ranked foes, with IU also beating then-No. 2 Iowa and No. 13 Michigan.
Molly Stutte (team-high 23 points) shares the team's goal lead with Celia Arroyo Cabezduo, while Ines Garcia Prado has 14 points (three goals and eight assists) and Mijntje Hagen has five goals. Goalkeeper Sadie Caneli has a 0.96 goals-against-average on a 75.0% save percentage, as IU has outscored foes 35-18 on the year. Garcia Prado was an All-American and First Team All-Big Ten last year, while Hagen joined her on All-Big Ten. Inés Garcia Prado and Mijntje Hagen were named First Team All-Big Ten this year.Ā
Indiana Series
Rutgers and Indiana will face off for the second straight game. RU defeated Indiana 2-1 to close the regular season, with Sophie Kuiper and Laura Loycke scoring goals at the end of the first half to give RU the win.
Rutgers is 13-4-1 all-time against Indiana. Since 2017, RU has won nine of the last 11 meetings. All four RU losses in the series, which dates back to 1981, came on the road
Big Ten Tournament History
Rutgers is 5-10 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament, qualifying for the event in 11 of the 12 previous seasons as a league member.Ā
This is the third straight season that RU will be the 4 seed. While this will be the third different RU opponent in those three 4-5 games, each saw No. 1 Northwestern awaiting the winner. RU was the 4 seed last season, falling to No. 5 seed Michigan, also with No. 1 Northwestern awaiting the winner. In 2024, RU defeated No. 5 seed Ohio State (2-1), then fell to No. 1 seed Northwestern (2-0). Overall, RU will play in the 4-5 game for the fifth time, and is seeded fourth or higher for the third time.
The lone previous matchup with Indiana came in the 2-7 game of the 2021 Big Ten Tournament, which RU hosted and went 3-0 en route to the school's first Big Ten Tournament Title. That 3-1 win for RU was the 100th career win for RU head coach Meredith Civico, who this season surpassed 150 career wins.
Rutgers at the Big Ten Tournament
2014: 3-0 Loss to 2-Seed Michigan (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
2015: Did not qualify
2016: 3-1 Loss to 1-Seed Maryland (College Park, Md.)
2017: 4-3 Loss to 4-Seed Northwestern (Evanston, Ill.) ā round one on campus sites
2018: 1-0 Loss (2OT) to No. 4-Seed Ohio State ā round one on campus sites
2019: 3-1 Loss to No. 3-Seed Northwestern (State College, Pa.)
Spring 2021: 2-1 Loss to No. 3-Seed Northwestern (Iowa City, Iowa)
Fall 2021: Big Ten Tournament Champions (Piscataway, N.J.)
3-1 Win over No. 7 seed Indiana
2-1 Win over No. 3 seed Penn State
1-0 Win over No. 4 seed Michigan
2022: 2-1 Loss to No. 3 seed Northwestern (Columbus, Ohio)
2023: 1-0 Win over No. 7 seed Michigan (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
2-1 Loss to No. 3 seed Maryland (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
2024: 2-1 Win over No. 5 seed Ohio State (College Park, Md.)
2-0 Loss to No. 1 seed Northwestern (College Park, Md.)
2025: 2-1 Loss to No. 5 seed Michigan (2OT) (Bloomington, Ind.)
With a Win, Rutgers wouldā¦
About Rutgers
Rutgers enters the postseason with an 11-7 record. RU went 5-3 in one of the nation's top conferences. RU has won six of the past seven and are 9-3 over the last 12 games dating back to September 18.
The Scarlet Knights, playing in the Big Ten (which was ranked as the No. 1 Conference by the RPI as of Monday), hold a RPI ranking of 14. Rutgers' strength of schedule metric ranks among the top nationally, with an opponent success measure of sixth nationally.
As a team, Rutgers has scored 50 goals this season. The last time that RU reached that goal total for a season was in 2018 (when Rutgers scored exactly 50 goals across 19 games). The 2016 team scored 54 goals, the most scored by a Meredith Civico team.
Olivia Fraticelli leads the team with 13 goals, which is third in the Big Ten. Her 27 points are sixth in the Big Ten. The Toms River, N.J .native has scored 13 goals on just 31 shots (42% of her shots have scored). Her 13 goals are seventh on RU's single-season goal list, while she is 12th on the single-season points list. Her 24 career goals are tied for 7th all-time at Rutgers. Her 51 career points are 21st all-time at Rutgers. One more goal would tie Fraticelli for sixth all-time at RU with Mary Beth Dwyer (1982-85). She can reach a tie for 14th on RU's all-time points list with Austyn Cuneo (2017-19) with two more points.
Emily Nicholls leads the Big Ten with 4.61 saves per game. She is nine saves away from 200 saves for her career. Nicholls made career-high 16 saves, including stopping a penalty stroke in overtime,Ā in RU's 4-3 overtime win over No. 6 Iowa. That total was the most in a single game for any RU goalkeeper since at least 2012 and the most for any Big Ten goalkeeper since 2024.
Rutgers had five players earn All-Big Ten accolades on Tuesday. Anna Cogdell, Olivia Fraticelli, Talia Schenck and Eden Doucelin were named Second Team All-Big Ten. Doucelin and Ella Gandy were named to the All-Freshman team.Ā
Quotable
"We are thrilled to once again be back at the Big Ten Tournament, especially considering how competitive our conference has been this season," head coach Meredith Civico said. "Indiana is an excellent team, and it was a very close game against them this past Friday. To play them again with such a quick turnaround will be interesting - I'm sure they will do all they can to reverse the result. We will, of course, be doing all we can to win. I am very proud of the way our team has been competing and of their belief in themselves and one another."
About Indiana
IU has been ranked for the last six weeks, reaching as high as no. 11 in the country. The team had their best 10-game start to a season since 2014 when they opened at 7-3 and won their first four Big Ten games for their best conference start since 2005. The Hoosiers now stand at 9-7 overall and 4-4 in league play, entering on a four-game losing streak in three straight ranked matchups (No. 2 Northwestern, No. 19 Penn State, No. 1 Maryland, No. 18 Rutgers). All seven losses this year have come to ranked foes, with IU also beating then-No. 2 Iowa and No. 13 Michigan.
Molly Stutte (team-high 23 points) shares the team's goal lead with Celia Arroyo Cabezduo, while Ines Garcia Prado has 14 points (three goals and eight assists) and Mijntje Hagen has five goals. Goalkeeper Sadie Caneli has a 0.96 goals-against-average on a 75.0% save percentage, as IU has outscored foes 35-18 on the year. Garcia Prado was an All-American and First Team All-Big Ten last year, while Hagen joined her on All-Big Ten. Inés Garcia Prado and Mijntje Hagen were named First Team All-Big Ten this year.Ā
Indiana Series
Rutgers and Indiana will face off for the second straight game. RU defeated Indiana 2-1 to close the regular season, with Sophie Kuiper and Laura Loycke scoring goals at the end of the first half to give RU the win.
Rutgers is 13-4-1 all-time against Indiana. Since 2017, RU has won nine of the last 11 meetings. All four RU losses in the series, which dates back to 1981, came on the road
Big Ten Tournament History
Rutgers is 5-10 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament, qualifying for the event in 11 of the 12 previous seasons as a league member.Ā
This is the third straight season that RU will be the 4 seed. While this will be the third different RU opponent in those three 4-5 games, each saw No. 1 Northwestern awaiting the winner. RU was the 4 seed last season, falling to No. 5 seed Michigan, also with No. 1 Northwestern awaiting the winner. In 2024, RU defeated No. 5 seed Ohio State (2-1), then fell to No. 1 seed Northwestern (2-0). Overall, RU will play in the 4-5 game for the fifth time, and is seeded fourth or higher for the third time.
The lone previous matchup with Indiana came in the 2-7 game of the 2021 Big Ten Tournament, which RU hosted and went 3-0 en route to the school's first Big Ten Tournament Title. That 3-1 win for RU was the 100th career win for RU head coach Meredith Civico, who this season surpassed 150 career wins.
Rutgers at the Big Ten Tournament
2014: 3-0 Loss to 2-Seed Michigan (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
2015: Did not qualify
2016: 3-1 Loss to 1-Seed Maryland (College Park, Md.)
2017: 4-3 Loss to 4-Seed Northwestern (Evanston, Ill.) ā round one on campus sites
2018: 1-0 Loss (2OT) to No. 4-Seed Ohio State ā round one on campus sites
2019: 3-1 Loss to No. 3-Seed Northwestern (State College, Pa.)
Spring 2021: 2-1 Loss to No. 3-Seed Northwestern (Iowa City, Iowa)
Fall 2021: Big Ten Tournament Champions (Piscataway, N.J.)
3-1 Win over No. 7 seed Indiana
2-1 Win over No. 3 seed Penn State
1-0 Win over No. 4 seed Michigan
2022: 2-1 Loss to No. 3 seed Northwestern (Columbus, Ohio)
2023: 1-0 Win over No. 7 seed Michigan (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
2-1 Loss to No. 3 seed Maryland (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
2024: 2-1 Win over No. 5 seed Ohio State (College Park, Md.)
2-0 Loss to No. 1 seed Northwestern (College Park, Md.)
2025: 2-1 Loss to No. 5 seed Michigan (2OT) (Bloomington, Ind.)
With a Win, Rutgers wouldā¦
- Earn its sixth all-time Big Ten Tournament win.
- Have won seven of its past eight games.
- Earn its fifth ranked win of the season.
- Advance to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals for the second time in three years and fourth time in six years.
- Win its sixth game of the season against a Big Ten team for the second time in four years.
Players Mentioned
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