Page 52 - Rutgers Field Hockey 2019

Rutgers had three players selected for Big Ten preseason honors in
Glatz, Larmour and Cuneo.

In regard to Rutgers playing five ranked non-conference foes in nine
games total, Civico made it clear it was intentional by stating, “to be
the best, you have to play the best and beat the best, which is our
philosophy when it comes to scheduling.” She explained the strategy
behind by saying, “we want to make sure that we are improving
week to week and our non-conference schedule is really preparing
us and setting us up for success in our conference. The Big Ten is one
of the best in the country and we want to make sure every team we
are playing helps us to learn and grow each weekend.”

One difference this preseason has been dealing with increased
expectations after a breakthrough season a year ago.

Gollotto said, “I think we set a standard for ourselves last year, so
coming into this year we know we want to either keep that standard
or even surpass those expectations. There is more pressure on us which is good because it’s going to make
us word harder to exceed those expectations.”

Larmour agreed, saying “we can’t just take it as a given that the same success is going to happen this
season. The Big Ten is a really competitive conference with teams having very similar playing styles, so no
game is going to be easy. We have to go into every game hungry and continuing to motivate our
teammates to stay as competitive as possible.”

The biggest question this season is whether Rutgers can replicate last season’s success despite losing so
much offensive production, even with one of the best defenses in the country, let alone the Big Ten. The
players seem undaunted by the challenge and certainly are aiming high for a second consecutive season.

As far as where this team wants to ultimately end up at the end of the season, Gollotto stated, “our goal is
to win as many games as we can and that will lead to doing well in the Big Ten and getting back to the
NCAA Tournament. Hopefully go farther than we did last season.”

Larmour was blunter, saying “it’s about time Rutgers has a Big Ten champion and I would be absolutely
thrilled for it to be the field hockey program that does it.”

Civico did not shy away from expectations or team goals either, explaining “this team wants to be
competing for a Big Ten Championship and an NCAA Championship. There is no question. We’ve really
spent a lot of time identifying our core values and the things that will get us to where we want to go. That’s
been the focus. We have that ultimate goal, but
we’ve been working on and assessing our core
values, which is what is really driving the team.”

As for this weekend, Rutgers takes on Ball State
one day after its opener, with both games at
home. It’s a perfect way to start for a team
that’s embracing the details. “We are opening
up against Maine who is ranked, so we are really
looking forward to playing them”, said Civico.
She added, “I think our mentality is taking it one
game at a time and Maine is our focus. We are
just doing everything we can this week to
prepare as hard as we can.” It should be an
exciting season for the field hockey team. If
Rutgers can stay focused on building off of last
season’s success and continue to improve,
they’ll ultimately assert themselves as one of the best programs not just in the Big Ten, but in the country.