Late surge carries seniors to sweep in final home weekend

Bucknell made it clear from the opening whistle that it would not roll over for the Rutgers field hockey team, no matter the circumstance.

But the Scarlet Knights got hot with less than 10 minutes before the final horn blew, snapping off three goals en route to an emotional 3-0 victory on Senior Day.

"I was so impressed by our attacks. I thought we stayed really poised and we didn't get frustrated," said head coach Liz Tchou. "When you get frustrated, your performance can go down. It's how you keep each play going — your attitude for each play — and I thought our kids were just continuing to try and figure things out."

Icing the game for the Knights (8-10, 2-3) was freshman forward Gia Nappi, who posted her best performance of the season.

The Fairfield, N.J., native made a run at the Bucknell (6-11) goalkeeper with less than two minutes left in regulation, sneaking one low to score her fifth goal. The freshman also tabbed two assists in the game's final 10 minutes, the latter to fellow freshman Lisa Patrone on a breakaway and the other at the 60:34 mark to junior back Christie Morad.

With offensive contributions from Nappi, Patrone and Morad, the Knights sent the duo of senior co-captains off on the right foot.

"Jenna [Bull] and Heather [Garces] have been such a great pair of seniors," Tchou said. "They're great leaders. They don't just lead to lead. They empower others to lead and bring out their best and that's what I absolutely love about them."

Though the Knights made it look easy to end the game, it was not so easy for much of the contest. As the clock continued to wind down in the second half, the Bison attack jumped up a notch.

With 11:40 left on the clock, Bucknell posted its fifth penalty corner of the game –– the fourth of the second half –– to create yet another scoring opportunity.

The shot went wide off a block and Tchou's squad responded, quickly getting the ball moving the other way.

The Knights matriculated the ball downfield, executed their passes and just two minutes later tallied the game's first goal.

"We didn't start off too good, but I think [the team] showed us they would do whatever it took to get us a win," Bull said. "It was pretty cool to beat a team, 3-0, in our last home game."

Both teams struggled offensively for some of the first half and much of the second half of play. The Bison outshot the Knights, 10-6, for the game and blanked the squad's attack in the first half, as Tchou's offense failed to record a shot or penalty corner in the period.

In the midst of its struggles, the team never got down and made adjustments on the fly to match up better with the opposition.

For Tchou, it was something special to watch.

"It was great to watch them out there problem solving," Tchou said. "That's probably the most rewarding thing as a coach — to watch them make their own decisions and figure things out and communicate it out on the field and want it so bad."

The Knights posted their first shutout of the weekend by blanking Columbia (8-6), 2-0, Friday on the Banks.

Junior midfielder Bridgette Sands earned her first goal of the year off an assist from junior forward Nicole Gentile, who scored the game's other goal. The goal and assist bumped Gentile up to 21 points for the season and gave the Jamison, Pa., native her 10th score this year for Rutgers.

Both shutouts this weekend marked the fourth time in five games in which the defense and freshman goalkeeper Sarah Stuby stole the show.

Stuby made eight saves in front of her home crowd, improving the Knights' home record to 6-4 and giving the walk-on her fourth shutout of the season.

"Sarah Stuby made incredible saves in there that really helped us get out. It's unbelievable," Tchou said.

Rutgers competes in its final game of the season next Saturday against No. 4 Connecticut. Tchou noted early in the practice week that two strong performances were essential to establishing the momentum needed to take down the Huskies and make the Big East Tournament.

While the squad came out of the weekend with two wins, there is still room to improve, according to Garces.

"I think this game just kind of showed us we have to step up not only in the second half, but the first half," the forward said. "We have to start off strong and not just rely on our second half. I think we have a good chance here."