Field Hockey Captures First Ever Big 10 Title
Hail to the victors! For the first time in program history, Rutgers Field Hockey are Big Ten Champions! The Scarlet Knights captured the historic title in a thrilling 1-0 victory…
Rutgers Field Hockey wins the Big 10 Title. scarletknights.com
Hail to the victors!
For the first time in program history, Rutgers Field Hockey are Big Ten Champions! The Scarlet Knights captured the historic title in a thrilling 1-0 victory over the Michigan Wolverines. In fact, Field Hockey became the first sport in school history to win a Big 10 Tournament title. Women's Soccer won the Big 10 regular season title this season.
Per scarletknights.com, "'It's incredible. I'm so proud of this team and this group of players," head coach Meredith Civico said. "We knew this game was going to be an absolute physical battle. We played 60 minutes of gritty, relentless Rutgers field hockey.
'"It's been such a process and we have great players and great people in our program. We've been building this and working towards this for a long time. To have this season and this group of players who are so talented and so gritty, so committed to the team, is a really special thing. To win this championship at home, at Rutgers, with this team, it doesn't get any better than this."'
Tayla Parkes scored the games only goal in the second quarter at the 23:45 mark, when she found the ball in open space and slapped it past goalie Anna Spieker, before falling to the ground. By the time Parkes looked up, she was mobbed by her teammates.
The party was only just beginning.
Defensively, Rutgers did an amazing job. Of the 12 shots attempted by Michigan, only four were on goal. Rutgers goalie Gianna Glatz was a wall, blocking all four shots to come near her.
With the victory, Rutgers earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. It will be RU's fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in school history, previously making it in 1984, 1986 and 2018. Rutgers entered Sunday ranked No. 1 in the nation in the NCAA's RPI.
At 18-3, this year's Rutgers team blew away a number of program records including wins in a season, 15, set in 1986. They also won a series of three games in four days -- all against difficult competition in the Big 10. RU went 16-1 at home this season, including the playoffs.
