Penn State Field Hockey (5-4, 1-1 Big Ten) shut out the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (5-6, 0-2 Big Ten) 1-0 on Friday afternoon.

Katelyn Strawser netted the lone goal for the Nittany Lions as they juggled with the Scarlet Knights’ New Jersey roughness to pull out a 1-0 lead.

How It Happened

Rutgers started with the opening offensive possession and kept it close to their goal for the first minute.

Lily Holmes stole the ball at the midfield line to give the Nittany Lions their first offensive possession. The Scarlet Knights quickly won it back, preventing any shots on goal.

The Scarlet Knights had a good look at a goal, but the shot went wide, and they kept possession, pushing through the Nittany Lions’ defense to get it into the circle. 

The Nittany Lions earned their first penalty corner with 7:51 left in the first half. Olivia Marthins went behind the line for the Nittany Lions to take the shot out. Ella Gaitan kicked the ball but couldn’t connect, resulting in a quick Scarlet Knight takeaway, but they couldn’t connect in the net either.

The Nittany Lions had their second penalty kill with 3:27 left in the first period.

Camryn Standish sent it in and Emily Nicholls went right down to the ground trying to defend the net.

Katelyn Strawser got her own rebound and found the back of the net for her first goal of the season, giving the Nittany Lions a 1-0 lead. 

KATE'S GOAL STANDS

Q1 12:48 | PSU 1 – RU 0 pic.twitter.com/CmZpaW66RA

— Penn State Field Hockey (@PennStateFH) October 2, 2026

After the goal, Rutgers shot it from the midfield circle out of play, giving the ball back to the Nittany Lions, where Lara Pyle maintained possession and passed to Gaitan, who was cut off by Olivia Beattie, resulting in a turnover to the Rutgers offense. 

Rutgers tried to draw something up in the last 30 seconds of the opening period, but it couldn’t connect and turned the ball over to the Nittany Lions, giving Penn State a 1-0 lead after the first period.

Marthins had a great look to open the second period for the Nittany Lions, almost connecting, but Nicholls quickly blocked it.

Penn State had two whistles called against them, giving Rutgers the ball. Rutgers could not get a shot on net before the Nittany Lions stole the ball away, however.

Rutgers recorded their first shot of the game with 11:14 to go in the second, but Deverka blocked the shot by Rutgers forward Frederique Vernooij.

Martha Goodridge found the middle of the Nittany Lion defense and passed it to Frederique Vernooij. Rutgers asked for a corner but didn’t get one.

Rutgers controlled the ball for a decent stretch, trying to connect from behind the midfield line, but the Penn State defense caught on and won it back.

In the final 30 seconds, Pyle passed the ball to Marthins, who had a good look at goal but couldn’t connect.

The Scarlet Knights took it back over before Penn State stole it; Penn State had another good look but couldn’t connect, taking a 1-0 lead at halftime. 

Rutgers had possession for most of the opening minutes of the second half, but couldn’t connect on a goal to tie it up.

Vernooij had a good look as she went all the way down to the net, but Deverka recorded another save as she kicked the shot away.

Rutgers first corner came with 11:43 in the third period. Vernooij went behind the line for the Scarlet Knights to shoot the ball in. The Rutgers offense couldn’t connect, giving the Nittany Lions possession of the ball.

Penn State received another corner with 10:00 remaining in the third period after pushing the ball from their own net all the way down to the Rutgers circle. Marthins was behind the line for the Nittany Lions.

Gaitan shot it under the legs of Rutgers defenders; Nichols shot it right down to the ground. Despite the ball hitting the net, it was ruled no goal as Penn State was called for kicking.

Natalie Freeman took another corner for Penn State with 6:40 left in the third period; the Nittany Lions couldn’t connect, but they got another corner, which was shot wide.

Sophie Kuiper attempted a shot for Rutgers with 5:30 left in the third period, but her shot went wide, and the Nittany Lions regained possession.

Rutgers had a good look after a penalty corner was called. Deverka got a first look at the ball but couldn’t save it. Gaitan, however, saved the ball from hitting the back of the net, preserving the 1-0 lead as time expired in the third period.

The first penalty corner of the fourth period came within the first minute and a half. However, after a Nittany Lion challenge, it was overturned.

Anna Cogdell had a good luck won by Kuiper but couldn’t connect, giving Dunn the chance to steal it for Penn State.

Dverka blocked the best shot from the Scarlet Knights with 7:38 left in the fourth period, with the shot coming from Kuiper. Dverka recorded two more stops within the six-minute mark to prevent the Scarlet Knights from scoring.

With 3:01 remaining in regulation, Rutgers pulled Nicholls, giving them a man advantage.

In the final two minutes, Rutgers applied defensive pressure to the Nittany Lions to force an equalizer. Penn State kept forcing turnovers as it tried to burn the clock and prevent an equalizer.

Rutgers, however, couldn’t connect on any of their final plays, giving Penn State a 1-0 victory and its first Big Ten win of the season. 

Takeaways

• The Scarlet Knights continuously used their New Jersey roughness to gain possessions and show how physical they can be in tough situations.
• In the second period, Rutgers maintained possession for a decent portion; however, Penn State stopped the Scarlet Knight offense defensively to preserve its 1-0 lead from the first period.
• After the first half, Penn State had three shots on goal, and Rutgers had only one. Rutgers came back swinging in the second half to outshoot the Nittany Lions, finishing 11-7.

What’s Next

The Nittany Lions will be back in action on Sunday, October 4, at home as they host No. 19 Lafayette for Senior Day.

The game will begin at 1:00 p.m. and will be streamed on Big Ten Plus for folks unable to attend.