Rutgers field hockey's banner season ends in heartbreaking loss to Liberty in Elite Eight

PISCATAWAY — The Rutgers field hockey team was denied one more piece of history on Sunday afternoon.

The top-seeded Scarlet Knights fell one win short of their first trip to the NCAA Final Four, dropping a 3-2 result in a penalty shootout to No. 9 Liberty in the Elite Eight at Bauer Track and Field Complex.

It was a difficult ending for the top-ranked Scarlet Knights (19-4), who finished with a program record win total and the program's first Big Ten tournament title. They also tallied 13 wins over ranked opponents.

"This obviously hurts a lot, and it’s not something that we’ll forget for a long time, but we also can’t forget that we did succeed in our main goal," captain Katie Larmour said. "We are Big Ten champions. We’ve made history and this program has only to go up here. I think there’s still history to be made. I’m so proud of all these girls."

It's been a steady climb to relevancy on the national stage for Scarlet Knights. They won nine games in the spring and 10 last fall.

Rutgers' last NCAA tournament appearance came back in 2018 when it lost to UConn in the opening round. Its opening-round win over Delaware was the program's first in 35 years.

Sunday's defeat, however, was an unfortunate case of history repeating itself. Rutgers had reached the Elite Eight twice in their history prior to this season. In those games, the Scarlet Knights had come up short in losses to Temple and North Carolina in 1984 and 1986, respectively.

"I think obviously we were devastated to not get a result today," Rutgers coach Meredith Civico said. "The team played hard, that's what tournament hockey's like, it's super tight and every team is quality, so we were obviously disappointed about that.

"I'm just really proud and grateful to these players, especially these senior players who returned for a fifth year and Katie Larmour returned for her sixth year, and what they've done to put this team in this position."

On the back heel

After jumping in front 2-1 with a pair of third-quarter goals, the Scarlet Knights could not put the game away.

Big East champions Liberty entered the game leading the nation in scoring with 3.84 goals per game, and the Flames' threat could not be extinguished late.

The Scarlet Knights were put back on their heels in the fourth quarter with Guillermina Causarano receiving a two-minute green card and then Amanda Beck getting a five-minute yellow card. The Flames netted the tying goal with 3:13 to play on their third penalty corner of the frame as Jill Bolton had a shot deflected up high and past Rutgers goalie Gianna Glatz.

"I think the tying goal they conceded was mistake of ours, which is a little bit frustrating, and that happens," Civico said. "Liberty is a very opportunistic team and they take their chances. I thought we created a lot of chances today and unfortunately, we didn't convert."

Rutgers poured the pressure on in the second overtime session, with three of its four penalty corners coming in the final 10 minutes. Rachel Houston hit the outside of the left post and Larmour had a chance from in tight deflect off the outside of the cage.

In the shootout, a pair of Scarlet Knights chances went wide of the net and Charlotte Vaanhold clinched the win with a spin past Klatz to seal the Flames' first trip to the Final Four.

"It's such an anticlimactic ending," Larmour said. "I think we could have done better in regular time and both overtimes to do what we need to do. I'm sure that's something I'm sure we'll address at some point, but it's nobody's fault."

Second-half response

The Flames proved their strength in the shooting circle on their first penalty corner seven minutes and 47 seconds into the game.

Lexi Hosley cashed in as the initial shot was blocked and Vaanhold found her on the left doorstep for the opening goal.

But after heading into halftime trailing by a goal, the Scarlet Knights received new life early in the third quarter when the Flames were whistled for a deliberate trip. Milena Redlingshoefer drove in the penalty stroke to tie the score.

And less than three minutes later, Gianna Mancini ripped a shot from the left side of the circle that found the cage to give Rutgers a 2-1 lead.

"I think we were really unsatisfied with how Rutgers usually likes to play," Larmour said. "We were defensive-minded rather than offensive. We came out, made the adjustments and it worked."

Once the Scarlet Knights took the lead, Civico said she felt her team was too content playing defense over the final 24 minutes.

"We play a really possession-oriented style where we want to move the ball, three seconds on the ball max, get it, give it," Civico said. "I think we really started to play our hockey for period and it was really good.

"We were on top, we scored that go-ahead goal and then I think we just gave the opponent a little too much room. We kind of took the foot off a little bit, I don't know why."

Scarlet Knights women's soccer takes the banner

Down the road, the Scarlet Knights women's soccer team opened up its quest for a national title with its highest seed ever — the top seed in its region — and toppled Bucknell, 2-0, in the opening round.

Frankie Tagliaferri (Colts Neck) and Riley Tiernan (Eastern) found the back of the net in the win. The Scarlet Knights will now take on St. Louis in the regional quarterfinals.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Rutgers field hockey loses to Liberty in shootout in Elite Eight