No. 18 Rutgers took four shots in the first half against No. 15 Indiana on Friday and scored on two of them. They just took two in the second half. Indiana took seven, put six on goal, and Emily Nicholls saved all six. Rutgers won 2-1 at the Bauer Complex to finish the regular season 11-7 and 5-3 in the Big Ten, with wins in six of its last seven and a fourth ranked win. This column closed last week by asking what happens when Rutgers takes more than four shots of its own. It took six, and it won.
The reward is the No. 4 seed and Indiana again, on Wednesday in Columbus.
Three Substitutes and Three Minutes
Indiana had the first quarter to themselves. Theresa Ricci was credited with their penalty corner at 2:22, and Mijntje Hagen’s shot off it was blocked 17 seconds later. At 6:38 Inés Garcia Prado made space in the circle and put a backhand past Nicholls, assisted by Berta Saenz de Santa Maria. It was her third goal of the season and Indiana’s first in three games. Ricci went wide at 8:17.
Rutgers did not take a shot in the quarter. Indiana took three.
Frederique Vernooij took Rutgers’ first shot 22 seconds into the second quarter, and Sadie Canelli saved it at 15:22. Sophie Kuiper went wide at 18:52. Then nothing for nine minutes, while Indiana did not take a shot of its own.
At 26:49 Rutgers sent on three players at once. Olivia Stazi came on for Olivia Fraticelli, Laura Loycke for Talia Schenck and Kuiper for Caroline DeKenipp.
Sixty-two seconds later this game was level.
Stazi got a touch on the ball and Kuiper finished it at 27:51, with 2:09 left in the half. Ninety-nine seconds after that, Kuiper sent a bouncing pass through the middle, the ball got through several Indiana defenders and past Canelli, and Loycke touched it home at 29:30 with 30 seconds left before halftime. It was Loycke’s second goal in three games, after the one at Iowa.
Three players came on at 26:49. All four Rutgers scoring points went to them, and the whole sequence took 161 seconds. Rutgers outshot Indiana 4-0 in the second quarter and went in ahead 2-1.
Six on Goal, Six Saves
Indiana came out of halftime with more of the ball and Rutgers kept the lead without adding to it. Nicholls saved Agustina Gamonal at 34:29. Hannah Riddle took a green card at 35:07, and Kuiper’s shot during the two minutes was saved by Canelli at 35:31. Nicholls saved Garcia Prado at 40:24. Rutgers took one shot in the third quarter, Indiana two, and both of Indiana’s were on goal.
Nicholls saved Celia Arroyo Cabezudo at 45:44. Vernooij went wide at 49:02, and that was the last Rutgers shot of the game, with 10:58 still to play. Nicholls saved Hagen at 52:52.
At 53:32 Indiana took Canelli off for an extra attacker, the third straight game it had gone to the empty net, and Karly Redman came on in her place. Rutgers played the last 6:28 against an empty goal and did not take a shot at it. Kuiper and Vernooij came back on at 56:35.
Garcia Prado went high at 57:15. Nicholls saved Georgia Rottinghaus at 57:42 and Indiana earned a penalty corner, credited to Gabriela Garayo Aranceta. Thirteen seconds later it had another, credited to Sydney Meltzer, and Garayo Aranceta’s shot two seconds after the insert was saved. Julia Vinas Nieto came on for Martha Goodridge at 58:12 and Indiana did not get another look.
Nicholls saved all six.
Indiana outshot Rutgers 10-6, 7-4 on goal, and 7-2 after halftime. Six of its seven second-half shots were on target. Rutgers is now 13-4-1 all-time against Indiana, which finished the regular season 9-7 and 4-4 in the Big Ten on a four-game losing streak, the last three by one goal.
It was Rutgers’ fourth ranked win of the season, after No. 12 Syracuse, No. 18 Michigan and No. 6 Iowa. Rutgers has now won at least four ranked games in eight of the last nine seasons.
Rutgers is the No. 4 seed in the Big Ten Tournament at Buckeye Varsity Field in Columbus, Ohio, and plays No. 5 seed Indiana in Wednesday’s 11 a.m. quarterfinal on B1G+, five days after Friday. The winner gets top seed and No. 1 Northwestern in Friday’s 1 p.m. semifinal on BTN, a rematch of the 2-1 loss in Evanston on Oct. 25.
The final is Sunday at noon on BTN. Northwestern and Maryland shared the regular-season title at 7-1. Rutgers beat Ohio State in a shootout on the same field on Oct. 9, and their last Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal win was a 2-1 result over No. 7 Ohio State on Nov. 7, 2024, with Kuiper credited with an assist.
Rutgers found out on Friday that they can beat a ranked team with six shots and no corners.
Wednesday asks whether they can do it twice in five days, to a team that has now seen how.
