Wolverines Rebound with Victory at Rutgers

Friday, October 7

Piscataway, N.J.

3:00 PM

Michigan

(8-4, 3-2)

Rutgers

(6-5, 1-3)

Michigan

Rutgers

10/7/2016 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey

Box Score PDF Boxscore

By: Leah Howard

» No. 10 Michigan scored early and late in the first half and added an insurance goal late in the second to defeat Rutgers, 3-0.
» Courtney Enge, Meg Dowthwaite and Katie Trombetta scored goals for Michigan; Enge leads the Wolverines with a career-best six goals.
» Freshman goalkeeper Claire Stemper was victorious in her first collegiate start in the Wolverine cage.

Site: Piscataway, N.J. (Bauer Complex)
Score: #10 Michigan 3, Rutgers 1
Records: U-M (8-4, 3-2 Big Ten), RU (6-5, 1-3 Big Ten)
Next U-M Match: Saturday, Oct. 8 -- at Delaware (Newark, Del.), 4 p.m.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- The No. 10-ranked University of Michigan field hockey team used a quick start and a strong finish to knock off Rutgers, 3-1, on Friday afternoon (Oct. 7) at the Scarlet Knights' Bauer Complex. The Wolverines scored all three of their goals off penalty-corner opportunities.

Senior Courtney Enge opened scoring at the 5:32 mark, tallying her team-best sixth goal of the season on a corner rebound. She inserted the ball and was in the right place on the left post to knock in senior/junior Carly Bennett's shot on goal. Enge also owns a career high with her six markers on the season.

Michigan struck again late in the half, at 28:36, as freshman Meg Dowthwaite converted on another penalty corner, tipping in a shot from graduate student Esther de Leijer. It was her third of the season and second in three games.

The Wolverines struggled with cards throughout the contest, drawing three green cards and two yellows and were forced to play shorthanded for large parts of the second half. Rutgers capitalized early in the half, at 37:43, pulling with a goal on the scoreboard after a breakout down the left sideline and a finish in the circle from Rachel Yaney.

Junior Katie Trombetta reestablished the Wolverines' two-goal cushion at 57:27 on a straight corner shot, hammering a shot from the top of the circle and getting a slight deflection off a defender in front. Bennett and sophomore Leah Cardarelli earned assists for the stop and the insert, respectively.

Michigan largely dominated play after the goal, possessing the ball in Rutgers territory for much of the final 12 minutes. U-M outshot the Scarlet Knights, 10-7, while corners were even at 5-5. Freshman Claire Stemper, earning her first collegiate start, saw just the lone shot on goal, while Rutgers' Amanda Lamb earned five saves.

The Wolverines will wrap up the road trip tomorrow (Saturday, Oct. 8) with a 4 p.m. slate against Delaware in Newark, Delaware.