Friday, September 4
Piscataway, N.J.
12 PM
Rutgers
vs
Virginia
Photo by: Dakota Moyer
No. 20 Field Hockey Hosts Big Ten / ACC Challenge Games
Sep 02 | Field Hockey
RU to Face No. 5 Virginia (Friday) and No. 12 Syracuse (Sunday)
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 20 Rutgers field hockey will play host to three teams in Piscataway as the Bauer Complex will have four games across Friday and Sunday in the Big Ten / ACC Challenge. No. 5 Virginia (Friday, 12 pm) and No. 12 Syracuse (Sunday, 2 pm) are next up for RU.
There will be four games at RU on each day, with Ohio State also in town for a pair of neutral site game against the ACC foes. All four games will be live streamed on B1G+ and live stats will be available on Rutgers.Statbroadcast.com. Dom Savino will provide the play-by-play for all four contests this weekend. Kerrie Burns will be on color commentary on Friday, with Marybeth Freeman on the call on Sunday.
The weekend is billed as the 'Back to Bauer' weekend with fans encouraged to attend and support the team's first two home games for the premier matchups against ACC foes. Season posters will be available.
The Scarlet Knights went 1-1 on opening weekend with a pair of local road games. After falling at No. 18 Monmouth in the opener, RU rallied for a resounding 7-1 win on Sunday at Wagner in Staten Island.
Olivia Fraticelli led the RU offense on the weekend. Rutgers' leading returning scorer from last season (11 goals in 2025) had four goals across the weekend, including a career-high three with her first hat trick on Sunday at Wagner. Fraticelli, who leads the Big Ten and shares the NCAA lead in goals scored through the opening weekend, was named Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week.
Rutgers started five newcomers in the season opener with two true freshmen Lauren Iaccio and Eden Doucelin as well as Emma Uprichard and Laura Loycke starting their first collegiate game, joined as new RU starters by Princeton transfer Talia Schenck. For game two, Julia Vinas Nieto and Olivia Beattie made their first starts of the season.
At Wagner, Sophomore Frederique Vernooij, a transfer from Virginia, scored her first goal as a Scarlet Knight. Olivia Stazi scored her first career goal.
Rutgers' seven goal output against the Seahawks featured the team's first hat trick since 2024 (Paulina Niklaus against Indiana). Rutgers last scored at least seven goals on September 28 last season, defeating Columbia 8-0. It was just the second time since 2018 that RU scored 7+ goals in a game.
Rutgers' Frederique Vernooij, who scored her first goal as a Scarlet Knight at Wagner, played in 16 games last season at this Friday's foe, Virginia.
Virginia enters this week's matchup at No. 5 in the NFHCA Preseason Poll and have remained in the top-10 of the Poll since week one in 2022. The Cavaliers are coming off a 16-3 record and NCAA berth last season. UVA was picked second in the Preseason ACC Coaches Poll behind UNC.
Mia Abello, Mary Adams and Nilou Lempers were named Preseason All-ACC. Lempers was an All-American and ACC Goalkeeper of the Year last season. Adams scored four goals as a freshman last season, while Abello was a First Team All-ACC pick.
Virginia opened the series on the road at a Big Ten team, grabbing a 4-3 overtime win over Penn State. Mia Abello, one of four UVA goal scorers, had the winner five minutes into overtime.
Rutgers is winless in five lifetime matchups against Virginia. Last season, RU played the Cavs in the Big Ten / ACC Challenge for the first meeting between the two since 2016, falling 1-0. All five games in the series have been one goal games, with two of the five going to overtime.
Syracuse opened the fourth season under head coach Lynn Farquhar, the former St. Joe's head coach who continually faced RU with that program, with a 2-0 mark on the first weekend, defeating Fairfield (2-1) and Northeastern (3-2) in a pair of road games as the Orange play just one home game through the first weekend of October.
Syracuse features 11 newcomers, including nine freshmen. Sophomore Aubrey Turner was named Preseason All-ACC after scoring seven goals with four assists last season. Syracuse was picked to finish fifth in the league in the preseason poll after making the NCAA Tournament last season, reaching the NCAA Quarterfinals for the second time in three years.
RU is 7-22 all-time against former BIG EAST Conference mate Syracuse, with the lifetime series dating back to 1982. RU won four of the first five matchups, while the Orange are 21-3 since 1994 and have won four of five since 2012. Rutgers' last win over Syracuse came at home on September 10, 2021, a 3-2 win in double-overtime. RU will be looking for just their second win over Syracuse since 2004.
RU has two more ranked foes next weekend. On Friday, RU plays at No. 2 Princeton and then on Sunday they play host to No. 9 UConn. Five of the first six RU opponents are ranked. Nine teams on RU's schedule to be ranked in the preseason of NFHCA Coaches Poll.
There will be four games at RU on each day, with Ohio State also in town for a pair of neutral site game against the ACC foes. All four games will be live streamed on B1G+ and live stats will be available on Rutgers.Statbroadcast.com. Dom Savino will provide the play-by-play for all four contests this weekend. Kerrie Burns will be on color commentary on Friday, with Marybeth Freeman on the call on Sunday.
The weekend is billed as the 'Back to Bauer' weekend with fans encouraged to attend and support the team's first two home games for the premier matchups against ACC foes. Season posters will be available.
| About Rutgers |
The Scarlet Knights went 1-1 on opening weekend with a pair of local road games. After falling at No. 18 Monmouth in the opener, RU rallied for a resounding 7-1 win on Sunday at Wagner in Staten Island.
Olivia Fraticelli led the RU offense on the weekend. Rutgers' leading returning scorer from last season (11 goals in 2025) had four goals across the weekend, including a career-high three with her first hat trick on Sunday at Wagner. Fraticelli, who leads the Big Ten and shares the NCAA lead in goals scored through the opening weekend, was named Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week.
Rutgers started five newcomers in the season opener with two true freshmen Lauren Iaccio and Eden Doucelin as well as Emma Uprichard and Laura Loycke starting their first collegiate game, joined as new RU starters by Princeton transfer Talia Schenck. For game two, Julia Vinas Nieto and Olivia Beattie made their first starts of the season.
At Wagner, Sophomore Frederique Vernooij, a transfer from Virginia, scored her first goal as a Scarlet Knight. Olivia Stazi scored her first career goal.
Rutgers' seven goal output against the Seahawks featured the team's first hat trick since 2024 (Paulina Niklaus against Indiana). Rutgers last scored at least seven goals on September 28 last season, defeating Columbia 8-0. It was just the second time since 2018 that RU scored 7+ goals in a game.
Rutgers' Frederique Vernooij, who scored her first goal as a Scarlet Knight at Wagner, played in 16 games last season at this Friday's foe, Virginia.
| About Virginia |
Virginia enters this week's matchup at No. 5 in the NFHCA Preseason Poll and have remained in the top-10 of the Poll since week one in 2022. The Cavaliers are coming off a 16-3 record and NCAA berth last season. UVA was picked second in the Preseason ACC Coaches Poll behind UNC.
Mia Abello, Mary Adams and Nilou Lempers were named Preseason All-ACC. Lempers was an All-American and ACC Goalkeeper of the Year last season. Adams scored four goals as a freshman last season, while Abello was a First Team All-ACC pick.
Virginia opened the series on the road at a Big Ten team, grabbing a 4-3 overtime win over Penn State. Mia Abello, one of four UVA goal scorers, had the winner five minutes into overtime.
Rutgers is winless in five lifetime matchups against Virginia. Last season, RU played the Cavs in the Big Ten / ACC Challenge for the first meeting between the two since 2016, falling 1-0. All five games in the series have been one goal games, with two of the five going to overtime.
| About Syracuse |
Syracuse opened the fourth season under head coach Lynn Farquhar, the former St. Joe's head coach who continually faced RU with that program, with a 2-0 mark on the first weekend, defeating Fairfield (2-1) and Northeastern (3-2) in a pair of road games as the Orange play just one home game through the first weekend of October.
Syracuse features 11 newcomers, including nine freshmen. Sophomore Aubrey Turner was named Preseason All-ACC after scoring seven goals with four assists last season. Syracuse was picked to finish fifth in the league in the preseason poll after making the NCAA Tournament last season, reaching the NCAA Quarterfinals for the second time in three years.
RU is 7-22 all-time against former BIG EAST Conference mate Syracuse, with the lifetime series dating back to 1982. RU won four of the first five matchups, while the Orange are 21-3 since 1994 and have won four of five since 2012. Rutgers' last win over Syracuse came at home on September 10, 2021, a 3-2 win in double-overtime. RU will be looking for just their second win over Syracuse since 2004.
| With a Win |
- Rutgers is looking for its 20th win over a non-conference foe over the past two seasons (19-9 entering the weekend).
- A ranked win 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.
- Rutgers is 14-47-1 all-time against the ACC.
- A top-five win over Virginia would be the highest ranked opponent defeated since a 1-0 win over No. 3 Ohio State on October 20, 2024.
- It would be the 17th top-10 win for RU since April of 2021, with eight top-five wins in that span.
- A win over No. 5 Virginia would represent the highest ranked non-conference team ever beaten under head coach Meredith Civico, with the previous seven top-five wins coming over Big Ten teams.
- The last top-10 win over a non-conference opponent came with a win over No. 6 Princeton on September 20, 2019.
- The last time RU defeated a ranked team out of the ACC came on September 10, 2021, a 3-2 (2OT) win over No. 16 Syracuse.
| Up Next |
RU has two more ranked foes next weekend. On Friday, RU plays at No. 2 Princeton and then on Sunday they play host to No. 9 UConn. Five of the first six RU opponents are ranked. Nine teams on RU's schedule to be ranked in the preseason of NFHCA Coaches Poll.
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