No. 10 Rutgers field hockey defeats No. 22 Delaware 2-0

No. 10 Rutgers field hockey earned its fifth win over a ranked foe on Sunday in defeating No. 22 Delaware 2-0 on the road. This came two days after beating No. 20 Monmouth at home by the score of 3-2. At 6-1 to begin the season, the Scarlet Knights are in the midst of a stretch of facing nine ranked opponents in its first ten games. They’ve now beaten three ranked foes on the road in the Blue Hens, as well as Duke and UConn.

Rutgers took control immediately, as freshman Lucy Bannatyne scored inside the arc off a feed from Rachel Houston just three minutes into the game. Bannatyne has been a huge addition to this team and she now leads RU with four goals this season so far.

It didn’t take long for the Scarlet Knights to extend the lead as Kerrie Burns scored on a rebound at the end of the first quarter. Rutgers lead 2-0 and the score stayed that way until the final buzzer.

The Blue Hens fought hard as shots for the game were event at 7-7, while they held a 4-2 edge in corners over RU. Even so, the Scarlet Knights defense held strong to preserve the shutout. Goalkeeper Gianna Glatz made four saves in the win, all of them coming in the second half.

Head coach Meredith Civico has now led Rutgers to 24 wins over ranked foes since taking over the program in 2012.

The Scarlet Knights will now prepare for its Big Ten opener against No. 4 Northwestern (8-1) on Friday, September 24 at 4 p.m. ET. It will stream live on BTN+. Last spring, the Scarlet Knights beat the Wildcats twice in the regular season before losing in the Big Ten quarterfinals. Northwestern ended up making the shortened field for the NCAA Tournament while Rutgers didn’t despite finishing ranked No. 7 nationally last season.

This game has likely been circled on their calendars and is the only scheduled meeting between the two teams this season. It should be a great game between two top ten teams and a huge opportunity for Civico’s team to begin Big Ten play on a positive note.