A fourth quarter goal with less than seven minutes remaining from freshman Lucy Bannatyne provided the eventual margin of victory for the Scarlet Knights in their opening round game of the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
Despite the recent success of the lacrosse and wrestling teams, the surprising progress made by the baseball team, and the fact that both the men's and women's basketball teams made their respective NCAA tournaments, there are still those who will insist that Rutgers can't compete in their current conference and doesn't belong in the Big Ten. To those individuals, the Scarlet Knights field hockey team would likely pose this question....
How do you like your crow?
Going into today’s game, the No. 1 nationally-ranked Rutgers field hockey team was riding a six-game winning streak, captured the Big Ten Tournament title, and earned the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. For those who haven’t been watching, that’s the highest seed the program has ever earned.
The No. 17 Delaware Blue Hens traveled to Piscataway and became the thirteenth ranked opponent to fall to the Scarlet Knights this season, providing Rutgers with its first victory in the NCAA Tournament since 1986. The Knights have appeared in the tournament three times prior to this year, in 1984, 1986 and most recently, 2018. In addition to head coach Meredith Civico, the current Rutgers roster holds ten players from that 2018 squad.
In true fashion, the Scarlet Knights did it today, as they have all season long, with tight defense and exceptional goaltending from Gianna Glatz. From the outset, it became obvious that Rutgers would need to focus on the three leading Blue Hen goal scorers, Julia Duffhuis (13-2-28), Kiki Oudshoorn (9-4-22), and Morgan Rigual (7-2-16).
With the rain coming down in Piscataway, the match went scoreless through the first period, with the Scarlet Knights not even allowing Delaware a shot on goal through the first quarter.
But in the second quarter, the Knights defense began to create offensive chances, and when midfielder Milena Redlingshoefer fed Liz Romano with a pass to the right of Blue Hens goaltender Lizzie Gaebel, the senior zipped the ball into the goal at 17:59 to give Rutgers a 1-0 lead. That lead held up through the balance of the period, and when the half ended the Scarlet Knights held the narrow advantage.
In the third quarter, Delaware came out with a renewed energy, and despite having the better of the play, the Knights were able to hold the Blue Hens off the board.
Going into the fourth quarter, the Knights had the clock and the weather as their allies, especially when freshman Lucy Bannatyne knocked home the all-important insurance goal with under seven minutes remaining.
Down 2-0, the Blue Hens went into a heavy pressure offense, with their backs moving up to generate chances in the Rutgers end. When senior Grace Hoepfner managed to put one past Glatz with 1:01 remaining, suddenly the game was very much in doubt. The Blue Hens pressure continued, and with the final 12 seconds ticking down, a wild scramble in front of Glatz was thwarted by the Scarlet Knights defense, enabling Rutgers to hold on for their first NCAA Tournament victory in 35 years.
Rutgers defeated the Blue Hens 2-0 in Newark, Delaware earlier in the season. Today’s game marked the thirty-fourth meeting between the two schools, with Delaware holding a 20-11-3 advantage. Rutgers is next in action on Sunday, Nov. 14 and should they win that game, the Knights would earn a berth in the semi-finals.
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