Rutgers field hockey gave Meredith Civico a milestone win and then had to sweat a little before the afternoon was done.
On a rainy Sunday at Bauer, the Scarlet Knights beat American 4-2 in non-conference play, improving to 6-6 and delivering Civico her 150th career victory as Rutgers’ head coach. Afterward, the team marked the moment with flowers and a ceremonial Gatorade bath.
Rutgers came out firing and never gave up the lead after striking just 1:04 into the game. Frederique Vernooij set up Olivia Fraticelli for the opener, and from there the Scarlet Knights built a 3-0 cushion that looked comfortable until American made things interesting late.
Fraticelli finished with two goals, giving her a third multi-goal game of the season and moving her to a team-high 10 goals. Her 21 career goals now put her 10th all-time in Rutgers program history.
Sophie Kuiper also turned in a big day, scoring twice for her first two goals of the season. Her first came late in the opening half on a pass from Caroline DeKenipp, and she added another early in the second half to push Rutgers ahead 3-0 after 35 minutes.
American refused to go away, though. The Eagles scored twice in the fourth quarter and trimmed the deficit to one with five minutes left before Fraticelli answered with an insurance goal in the final minute to seal it.
Rutgers finished with a 14-10 edge in shots and had to withstand 12 American penalty corners. Emily Nicholls made four saves, while DeKenipp, Vernooij and Kuiper all recorded assists.
The Scarlet Knights return to action next weekend with a road game at Ohio State on Friday.
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