Rutgers Field Hockey Ranked #23, Daphne Groothuis Earns B1G Offensive Player of the Week Honors

Following the release of the Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division I Coaches Poll Tuesday morning, Rutgers Field Hockey is nationally ranked for the first time this season and sits at No. 23. The Scarlet Knights (3-0) are undefeated on the season, outscoring their opponents 14-2, including a pair of shutouts against Richmond and Hofstra to start the season, and picked up their first ranked win of the season over No. 18 St. Joe’s on Sunday.

Last season, the team spent nine weeks in the rankings and at one point, reached No. 18, but finished No. 21. They also had three ranked wins and three conference wins throughout the season.

Sophomore and team leader in scoring Daphne Groothuis was also named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week this afternoon. Over the weekend, she scored two goals and five assists, and had a defensive save in games against Hofstra on Friday and No. 18 St. Joe’s on Sunday. She had a career-high three assists during Friday’s game. She has also had at least one goal and one assist in every game that she has played this season and is a big reason why the team is playing so well and so cohesively.

Groothuis leads the team in goals, assists, and points, and leads the Big Ten in points per game with 4.0, which is also third across the country. Her 2.0 assists per game are tied for the nation’s lead, and her average of 1.0 goal per game is second in the Big Ten and ninth in the nation.

This is also the first time that Groothuis has earned this honor although she received several honors during her freshman season at Rutgers, including Big Ten Freshman of the Week twice and was ultimately named Second Team All-Big Ten.

The Scarlet Knights will close out their five-game home stand this weekend with contests against Cornell on Friday at 3PM and No. 6 Princeton on Sunday at 11AM. Both games take place at the Bauer Track & Field Complex in Piscataway.