No. 17 Rutgers field hockey will compete in the Big Ten Tournament this week in Bloomington, Indiana, hosted by Indiana University. The Scarlet Knights secured the No. 5 seed after tying for fourth place in the conference standings and will face No. 4 seed Michigan at 11 a.m. on Thursday.
If Rutgers wins, they will move on to play top-seeded Northwestern in the semifinals on Friday at 1 p.m. Northwestern finished league play undefeated and received a bye to the semifinals. The quarterfinals are available for streaming on B1G+, while the semifinals and championship game will be broadcast on Big Ten Network with commentary from Jack Kizer and Kara Lentz.
Rutgers enters postseason play with a 9-8 overall record and is ranked No. 18 in RPI, third among Big Ten teams behind Northwestern and Iowa. Their strength of schedule is seventh nationally, leading all conference teams. Rutgers’ win over UConn marks one of the highest-ranked victories for any Big Ten team this season, and all eight of their losses were to teams ranked in the top-21 RPI.
The Scarlet Knights have two players among the top ten goal scorers in the conference: Olivia Fraticelli (10 goals) and Sophie Kuiper (8 goals). Fraticelli is only the second Rutgers player in seven years to reach double-digit goals, joining Guillermina Causarano.
Freshman Olivia de Zwaan was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week after becoming the third different RU freshman honored with that award this season; Emily Nicholls and Martha Goodridge previously received it as well. De Zwaan has scored six goals so far—the most by a Rutgers freshman since Lucy Banatyne’s eight-goal season in 2021.
Rutgers ranks second in saves per game (5.82) and defensive saves (5) within the Big Ten, while also being fourth in total goals (2.65), scoring margin (0.97), and shutouts per game (0.24). Goalkeeper Emily Nicholls is sixth nationally in save percentage at 78.4%—second best in the conference—and has recorded 98 saves this year, making her the first RU goalkeeper since Shevaun Hayes (2014-15) to surpass 90 saves in a season.
Defender Puck Winter has five defensive saves this year, placing her second in the league and seventh nationally; she is one save away from tying the Big Ten’s career record.
Rutgers’ conference wins came against Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan State—teams seeded sixth or lower or not qualifying for this year’s tournament.
Historically, Rutgers holds a 5-9 record all-time at the Big Ten Tournament but has qualified for ten out of eleven possible appearances since joining the league. Since winning their first tournament title as hosts in fall 2021, they have gone 5-3 over four tournaments after starting with six straight losses.
Michigan enters Thursday’s match with a 9-6 overall record (4-4 Big Ten), having won two of three recent tournament titles including last year’s championship over Northwestern. The Wolverines are ranked No. 21 RPI but have struggled recently, finishing their regular season losing three out of four games—all against ranked opponents.
Abby Tamer leads Michigan with eight goals; Juliette Manzur follows with five goals and five assists. Michigan rotates between goalkeepers Hala Silverstein (.784 save percentage) and Caylie Mcmahon (.676 save percentage). The Wolverines have outscored opponents overall but were narrowly outscored across their last nine games.
In head-to-head history, Rutgers trails Michigan 4-14 but has split their past six meetings evenly at three wins each after winning just once through their first twelve encounters. Earlier this season, Rutgers took an initial lead before falling to Michigan by a score of 2-1.
If victorious against Michigan, Rutgers would next face Northwestern—a program that leads national defensive statistics including lowest goals-against average—and features standout players like Ashley Sessa (18 goals) and Ilse Tromp (11 goals). When these teams met earlier this year, Northwestern defeated Rutgers decisively.
A win Thursday would mark several milestones for Rutgers: it would be their fifth ever win over Michigan as well as their second victory over a ranked opponent this season; it would also make them winners of three opening-round tournament games out of four recent attempts.
Puck Winter continues to climb NCAA career rankings for defensive saves—she currently sits tied for sixth all-time nationally with thirty career stops.
This season has seen multiple individual accolades for Scarlet Knights athletes: Olivia de Zwaan was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week; Puck Winter earned both conference Defensive Player honors as well as national recognition; Martha Goodridge was also named Freshman of the Week; Emily Nicholls picked up weekly awards for both defense and freshman performance early in September.
Preseason recognitions included Anna Cogdell, Paulina Niklaus, and Puck Winter being named to Players to Watch lists following previous all-conference selections. Six student-athletes were selected by USA Field Hockey for participation or alternates status at national-level events—with Fraticelli and Nicholls also earning invitations to junior national team camps.
Recent seasons show sustained success: since 2018 Rutgers field hockey holds a .630 winning percentage including numerous victories over ranked opponents—eighteen such wins coming within just six seasons—and set program records for wins during its historic run through league play.
Internationally, alumna Katie Larmour debuted with Ireland’s senior national team while Iris Langejans began her professional career playing at Holland’s top level.
