Historic Season for Rutgers Field Hockey Ends in 2nd Round
They left it all on the field.
A team that captured the attention of Rutgers University, the surrounding community, and the NCAA for their record breaking 2021 season, Rutgers Field Hockey saw their season come to an end Sunday, 3-2 in Overtime to Liberty in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
“The team played hard and that is what tournament hockey is like,” head coach Meredith Civico told scarletknights.com.
“Every game is tight and every team is a quality one. I’m just really proud of grateful for these players, especially the seniors that returned for an extra year for what they’ve done to put our program in this position. To be a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament when four years ago we were just clawing to get in. Being the first Big Ten Tournament champions here at Rutgers, having the most wins in a season, most ranked wins in a season, this team has made history.”
Both teams were pretty much even throughout. They were tied at two after four quarters.Β Liberty had nine shots to Rutgers eight. Liberty had five shots on goal to Rutgers’ three shots on goal. It was that close.
Liberty scored the opening salvo on Lexi Holser’s shot with an assist by Charlotte Vaanhold.
Liberty would maintain that 1-0 lead deep into the third quarter when Rutgers rallied for a pair of goals in a matter of three minutes.
Milena Redlingshoefer nailed the first goal for Rutgers on a penalty stroke to tie the game at the 33 minute mark.
GOAL!!!
— Rutgers Field Hockey (@RUFieldHockey) November 14, 2021
Milena Redlingshoefer scores on the penalty stroke and #RUFH ties the game at 1-1! pic.twitter.com/mSPVLWe0zg
At the 36 minute mark, Gianna Mancini took a direct shot on goal, and slipped it passed the goaltender to give RU the 2-1 advantage.
With less than four minutes to go in the game, and Rutgers clinging onto a 2-1 lead, a shot by Jill Bolton popped the ball into the air, landing it perfectly in goal to tie it at two.
57' | ππππ! Jill Bolton scores the equalizer on a penalty corner! We are tied 2-2! pic.twitter.com/5h3XsSwIAa
— Liberty Field Hockey (@LibertyFH) November 14, 2021
In overtime it all came down to penalty shots, with Liberty winning 4-2.
Final Four boundπ₯π€² pic.twitter.com/xU46Ph4SjN
— Liberty Field Hockey (@LibertyFH) November 14, 2021
Overall, Rutgers went 19-4, far surpassing the program’s record for wins in a season, while also defeating 13 ranked teams, five of them in the top-10. The team made its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance lifetime and earned its third ever NCAA Tournament victory with a First Round win over Delaware on Friday.
