ANN ARBOR, Mich. – No. 5 ranked and No. 2 seed Rutgers field hockey is back at it on Friday afternoon. The Scarlet Knights (16-2 overall) face No. 3 seed and No. 8 ranked Maryland (15-4 overall) in the Big Ten Tournament Semifinals. The game will take place at 3:30 p.m. and be nationally televised on Big Ten Network, with Jack Kizer (play-by-play) and Kara Lentz (analyst) on the broadcast call.
Rutgers advanced to the Semifinals after a 1-0 victory on Thursday over No. 16 ranked and No. 7 seed Michigan, the hosts for the week for the Tournament at Ocker Field. The Scarlet Knights received a goal late in the fourth quarter, as Paulina Niklaus put home a shot from a corner with just under five minutes remaining in the fourth. Niklaus, a Second Team All-Big Ten selection, has three goals this season, and is on a three-game goal scoring streak currently.
Sophia Howard had her sixth shutout of the season as RU made the 1-0 margin stand up for the team’s eighth victory this season by a margin of one goal. Howard now boasts a 1.16 goals-against-average and .765 save percentage.
RU also claimed its seventh ranked win of the season. Over the last three seasons, RU has downed 25 ranked teams, representing 58 percent of their wins in that span.
Rutgers’ 16th win is the second most wins ever in a season for the program. Only the 2021 team (19) won more games.
The victory over Michigan was RU’s fourth ever Big Ten Tournament victory. A member of the league since 2014, when they played in their first ever Big Ten Tournament also at Michigan’s Ocker Field, Rutgers had only previously won a Big Ten Tournament game on its home field, as the Scarlet Knights went 3-0 at Bauer Field in Piscataway en route to the 2021 Big Ten Tournament crown. With the win over Michigan, Rutgers improved to 4-8 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament in nine appearances.
Rutgers is 1-2 all-time against 3-Seeds in the Tournament, downing No. 3 seed Penn State in the fall of 2021, and losing to a 3-seed Northwestern in Spring 2021 and 2022.
Maryland earned a 2-0 win over No. 6 seed Iowa in the third Quarterfinal matchup of the day Thursday. The Terps outshot the Hawkeyes 16-9 and had goals from Hope Rose and Sammy Popper. With the win, Maryland, the 2015 and 2018 Big Ten Tournament winners, improved to 13-7 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament and are making…
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