Northwestern
(8-3, 1-1)
Rutgers
(5-3, 0-2)
Team Stats
van Agt, Eva
Assisted By: McCarthy, Lisa
rebound
6:30
Masters, Dominique
Assisted By: Flens, Isabel
goal shortly after restart
6:46
Vaziri, Charlotte
Assisted By: Bernardi, Lauren
sent from right post, finished at far po
25:47
Flens, Isabel
GOAL by NU Flens, Isabel.
36:50
Imbriaco, Nicole (10)
Assisted By: Stever, Ali
shot from outside circle, tipped down lo
51:24
Beatty, Juliet
Assisted By: Troncelliti, Carolin
shot from right post, tipped at left pos
67:56
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Wildcats Trounce Scarlet Knights, 5-1
9/25/2015 3:32:00 PM | Field Hockey
Northwestern scores three times in the first half to earn first B1G win
The victory was the first of the Big Ten season for the Wildcats (8-3, 1-1 B1G) who bounced back from a narrow 3-2 loss at No. 10 Maryland a week ago.
"We had a very strong first half which really helped us gain the momentum early," Northwestern head coach Tracey Fuchs said. "We again had very balanced scoring. It was another great team effort today."
Rutgers came into the contest leading the conference with an average of 3.86 goals per game, but it was Northwestern who displayed the offensive firepower. The Wildcats took advantage of a penalty corner opportunity just over six minutes into the match to get on the board first. After Rutgers goalkeeper Shevaun Hayes made saves on the initial shots by Dominique Masters and then Lisa McCarthy, freshman Eva van Agt banged home her sixth goal of the year to make it 1-0 'Cats.
With the Scarlet Knights still stung by the early deficit, the Wildcats quickly pounced again. Following the passback from midfield, Isabel Flens found Masters who beat Hayes a mere 16 seconds after the previous goal to increase Northwestern's advantage to 2-0.
The Wildcats kept the pressure on throughout the first half as they out-shot the Scarlet Knights 14-4, including a 9-2 edge in shots on goal. The attack paid off once more before halftime when Charlotte Vaziri took a feed from Lauren Bernardi and put it into the cage at 25:47, increasing the NU lead to 3-0.
It didn't take Northwestern long to put the game out of reach in the second half as Flens scored her team-leading 10 goal of the season just 1:50 into the period as the advantage grew to four.
Rutgers got on the board at 51:24 when Nicole Imbriaco notched her 10th goal of the year, but the Wildcats added one final goal with just over two minutes remaining when Juliet Beatty finished off Caroline Troncelliti's shot at the post to account for the final margin.
Northwestern finished the match with a 24-12 edge in shots and 13-4 on penalty corners. Lindsay von der Luft made six saves in goal for the 'Cats to earn the victory. She teamed up with the NU defense to hold Rutgers to fewer than three goals in a game for the first time this season.
The Wildcats return to action on the road Sunday when they face Indiana in Bloomington at 11 a.m. Central time.
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