No. 6 Rutgers field hockey falls to No. 8 Harvard in 1st round of NCAA Tournament
The Rutgers field hockey team fell to Harvard on Friday. The Scarlet Knights (15-2, 6-2) capped off their season with a 2-1 loss against the Crimson (13-3, 7-0) in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
No. 6 Rutgers took the stage at Karen Shelton Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The game started off quickly, but both sides could not find the back of the net.
The first quarter stayed at a stalemate as the Knights only recorded one shot, with No. 9 Harvard coming up empty-handed.
Scoring picked up in the second. The Crimson netted a goal in the first 65 seconds of the second frame. Bronte-May Brough was the goal scorer for Harvard, netting the shot in on a penalty corner.
Despite the score, Rutgers had the majority of the possessions in the first half and kept the ball on its own side of the field.
Before the half ended, the Knights had a corner chance, but the shot was blocked. At the half, Rutgers trailed 1-0.
The third quarter was full of desperation play from the Knights. A flurry of three corners came in the team's direction within approximately 1 minute, but it could not convert on their chances.
The third rolled to a close just for the final frame to be a hard-hitting quarter. Rutgers was able to keep the Crimson at bay until the halfway point of the period. Emily Guckian tapped in a pass in front of the net, giving Harvard a 2-0 lead.
Just when it seemed like the game was over, the Knights had an action-packed sequence that got them on the board with less than 4 minutes left to play.
Graduate student forward Marique Dieudonne scored the sole goal for Rutgers, assisted by junior midfielder Lucy Bannatyne.
Despite their fight, time whirled down for the Knights, and their NCAA trip came to a close. The 2-1 loss marks the end of a historic run for Rutgers, where it went 15-0 to start the season and was as high as No. 3 in the national rankings.
"The goal we were able to score to make it 2-1 was just a brilliant bit of hockey," said head coach Meredith Civico. "I'm just proud of their effort and proud of the fight that they showed and disappointed in the result, but this group had a great season."
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