Senior midfielder Sophie Wright finished 31-40 in her four years with the Knights, but finished on a high note, qualifying for the Big Ten Tournament this season.
Three seasons ago, head coach Meredith Long was promoted from her assistant coaching job and embarked on a mission to rebuild the Rutgers field hockey program.
Her first recruits as an assistant were senior midfielders Jenn Staab and Sophie Wright.
In the last four years, the trio endured some tough times, going a combined 31-40 in the regular season.
Each season, they began to improve steadily and their patience paid of this year when they moved to the Big Ten and earned a tournament bid.
For the second straight season, the Scarlet Knights finished the regular season at .500, with a 9-9 record. Although the record was not ideal, Rutgers was able to adjust to the rigorous Big Ten more and more as the season went on.
But the season came to a screeching halt in the quarterfinals of the tournament, as the Knights fell to the host team and No. 2 seed Michigan, 3-0.
They faced increased competition but were able to always compete and unfortunate to not get that sought-after win over a ranked team. Wright felt the Big Ten would be a big task for a new member but that with time it would be easy to adjust.
Rutgers loses two-time captains Staab and Wright but return 19 players on the roster, including current captain sophomore midfielder Alyssa Bull. With the first season of the Big Ten in the books and all the experience that is returning, the Knights have a chance to build on what they did this season.
Rutgers’ top forward line of junior Katie Champion and sophomores Jasmine Cole and Rachel Yaney will return and look to build on the cohesion they found at the end of this season. The trio accumulated 16 of Rutgers’ 34 goals this season.
The team returns a solid backline of sophomores Elyse Broderick and Devon Freshnock, as well as second team All-Big Ten defender Sofia Walia, who played most of the season together.
Sophomore goalie Shevaun Hayes played every minute of every game this season and will look to continue doing so for the next two years.
For Rutgers, it is all about the preparation it must put in this offseason if it has any hopes of improving its stance in the Big Ten.
The Knights will take the time to let this season sink in and enjoy the accomplishments they had, but come the spring, all the work to once again compete in the Big Ten begins.
Rutgers looks to chip away from that mountain some more.