Photo Credit: Mike Franco

Rutgers' Field Hockey Beats James Madison on Senior Day

Sunday was senior day for Rutgers' Field Hockey as they took on James Madison. The Scarlet Knights did a ceremony before the game to honor all the seniors like Annie Walsh, Amanda Beck, Isabella Mancini, Rachel Houston and Maggie Lamb who were a big part of their historical season last year. This gave the Scarlet Knights motivation for the game and staying confident. Both teams defense started off strong in the beginning as the offense was trying to get a lot of pushes.

Rutgers and James Madison combined for 14 shots, nine shots on goal, six saves and nine corners. James Madison had a total of three green cards and one yellow card as they couldn't keep their composure. Rutgers only had one green card which didn't have any impact in the game. They had momentum for most of the game against James Madison once they scored the first goal. Rutgers was attacking on both offense and defense making it tough for James Madison.

Midfielder Lucy Bannatyne started off the scoring with her fourth goal of season at the 19:35 mark with a corner tip in front of goal and was assisted by Marique Dieudonne. Then Amanda Beck extended Rutgers' lead to 2-0 at the 35:40 mark with a shot from in the circle. The goal was her second of the season. At the 56:42 mark, Puck Winter finished off the scoring for Scarlet Knights and was assisted by Lucy Bannatyne and Iris Langejans.

Rutgers' offense was flowing throughout the game with nice drags, give and go passes and a lot of pushes to keep pressure on James Madison's defense. They were able bully the Dukes, which is taking away the ball from the other team and staying in front of it. The Scarlet Knights also played up tempo to keep JMU off guard a little bit. For them to be able to keep extending the lead was huge because coming into Sunday's game James Madison had only been shutout once this season.

The defense for Rutgers was fantastic starting with goalkeeper Sophia Howard who made four saves. They were attacking, closing down the offense of James Madison, covering on all sides of the field, trying not to give up easy shots and making key stops to take the ball away. No one expected a shutout, but Rutgers had a strong game plan against James Madison that worked and got them the big win on senior day which was another great moment.

With this win for Rutgers, it was their fifth ranked victory of the season, also beating number 3 Northwestern, number 15 UConn, number 23 Ohio State and number 25 Monmouth which is a big factor moving forward. They are sitting well at 21 in the rankings as the Scarlet Knights gets ready for the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday.

What's Next For Rutgers

Look for Rutgers to build from this win as they face No. 3 ranked  Northwestern on Thursday in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals in Columbus, Ohio.