A tough 3-1 loss to Michigan State by the women’s volleyball team and a dismantling of the football team by Wisconsin made for a tough Saturday if you’re a Scarlet Knights fan. It was the kind of day that left students, alumni and Rutgers supporters looking forward to the start of basketball season (which is only a few days away).
But the spirits of Rutgers fans were lifted on Sunday as the No. 3 ranked Scarlet Knights field hockey team took their 17-3 season record into the title game of the Big Ten Tournamentagainst No. 2 ranked Michigan. When it was over, the Scarlet Knights had defeated the Wolverines 1-0 in front of a large crowd at Bauer Track and Field Complex.
As she has all season long, goaltender Gianna Glatz (.94 GAA) was the mainstay of a stingy Scarlet Knights defense, posting a shutout in the game. The Big Ten Co-Player of the Year, Glatz provided head coach Meredith Civico’s team with solid play and a quiet confidence in net that allowed the Scarlet Knights to take chances defensively that quickly transitionedRutgers from defense to offense.
Leading the attack statistically this season has been senior Milena Redlingshoefer (7-10-24), freshman Lucy Bannatyne (7-1-15) and sophomore Bridy Molyneaux (6-0-12), but today, the Knights adopted a defense-first mentality to match the firepower brought by Michigan.
In addition to senior Kathryn Peterson (5-7-17) and freshman Abby Tamer (4-5-13), the Wolverines biggest threat is the Big Ten Offensive Player of the year, Sofia Southam (21-3-45). The senior from Buenos Aries quickly came out against Rutgers and created problems for the Scarlet Knights defense. It was Southam who controlled the tempo of the Wolverines’attack, yet despite taking the first seven shots of the game, scrappy play by the Scarlet Knights kept Michigan off the board.
Seniors Kerrie Burns, Liz Romano and freshman IrisLangejans had their hands filled attempting to thwart the Wolverines in the Rutgers end of the field. The trio have been the backbone of the Scarlet Knights defense this year, working like a funnel to limit opponents’ opportunities in their end of the field. In fact, it was Burns who had to scramble to make a save when Glatz was uncharacteristically out of position in the opening period, narrowly keeping Michigan off the board.
Michigan controlled the first quarter of play, with the Knights unable to get a single shot on Wolverines goaltender Anna Spieker. With Michigan still controlling play early in the second period, Rutgers decided to inject some new blood into the lineup.
It was the jump start the Scarlet Knights needed. When Tayla Parkes replaced Lucy Bannatyne, the tenor of the game changed. Pressure from Katie Larmour put the Scarlet Knights on the offensive, and less than a minute after she entered the game, Parkes put a shot past Spieker with 6:15 remaining in the second period to break the scoreless deadlock. From that point, the Knights defense clamped down on the Wolverines, holding them without a shot in the final seven minutes of the quarter.
But Rutgers wins with defense, and in the second half the Scarlet Knights dropped into a heavy presence in the middle of the field to force the Wolverines into low-percentage outside shots. The Knights were so defense-minded that they did not even take a single shot during the entirety of the third quarter.
In the final period the Wolverines began to get desperate, and with just over five minutes to play, Michigan pulled itsgoaltender to give them an eleven-on-ten player advantage on the field. The Wolverines tried to feed the ball to Southam, but Redlingshoefer was seemingly everywhere for Rutgers, continually denying every Michigan threat. With the gamewinding down, the home crowd of over 1,600 fans began to chant while the clocked winked down the final seconds of the game and the triumphant Scarlet Knights rushed onto the field tocelebrate their first-ever Big Ten Tournament title.
Rutgers will now compete in the NCAA tournament, withthe dream of a national title clearly within their grasp—which would surely raise the spirits of Rutgers Nation.
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