It’s showtime for the Rutgers field hockey team. The No. 13 Scarlet Knights have a full week beginning with Big Ten play on Friday at No. 7 Maryland and then on Sunday it’s a rivalry game with No. 18 Princeton at home. “It’s really exciting,’’ said Rutgers coach Meredith Civico, who will see her team face eight ranked opponents in the final 10 games of the regular season. The Scarlet Knights (3-2, 0-0 Big Ten) snapped a two-game losing skid with a convincing 6-1 win over Miami (OH) on Sunday. “It was really important and the team played really well,’’ said Civico.  “Sometimes there are silver linings when you lose games and I think for us was a matter of getting back to basics and playing more connected and playing more possessions. The response was really important and we put together a complete performance against a really good Miami team.’’ The Big Ten conference is definitely one of, if not, the best conference in the nation as six members are ranked in the NFHCA Top 20. “We are entering conference play and some really great competition in the rest of our schedule,’’ said Civico. “We are looking forward to playing Maryland and getting away and looking forward to the connections. It’s always a great game and we are looking forward to it.’’ The Scarlet Knights have been led by senior Guillermina Causarano with five goals and three assists, Grad student Kara Heck has three goals and one assist, freshman Sophie Kuiper has a goal and three assist and redshirt junior Vicky Jure has two goals. “It’s the best of the best and every game feels like you are playing in a final,’’ said Civico, of Big Ten competition. “It’s what we look forward to and we are eager to play these teams and everyone ups their level and their game and these games have another level of intensity. These are the games and the opponents that we look forward to the most.’’ It’s that same aura that surrounds the Jersey battle between Rutgers and Princeton. The Tigers lead the series 20-7-1, but the Scarlet Knights won last year, 2-1, in double overtime. “We love playing Princeton, they have a great team and are so well  coached,’’ Civico said of Carla Tagliente and the Tigers. “It’s an in-state rivalry that’s on the line and it’s always a great game with Princeton. They have some really great players. We know it’s going to be a great game.’’ There are certain aspects of the game Rutgers is still working to improve on and fortunately it’s all heading in the right direction. “The players are starting to complement each other and work off each other and it’s only going to get better,’’ stated Civico. “I look at the talent on the roster and we are so excited because we’ve not even close of what we can do.’’ This Friday would be a good time to start. Big Week For Tigers, too Princeton (2-2, 0-0 Ivy) opens the Ivy League schedule on Friday when it heads to Philadelphia for a 3 p.m. start against the Penn (1-3, 0-0 Ivy). The No. 18 Tigers are coming off a loss to No. 20 Penn State and are eager to get back on the field. “The team is excited and ready to go,’’ said Princeton coach Carla Tagliente. “The league should be very competitive this year, which is great.  Each team will pose a different challenge.  The key for us is to focus on Princeton and getting better each game.’’ Beth Yeager, Aimee Jungfer, Molly Nye and Lawrence’s Talia Schenck all have one goal for Princeton with Yeager and Lydia Bills having an assist. A year ago, Penn snapped a 17-game losing streak to the Tigers with a double-overtime 3-2 win, so most definitely the Tigers will be prepared. Then the Tigers will head to Rutgers for that Jersey rivalry. “Regardless of proximity, it’s developed into a little bit of a rival because the games are usually close,’’ said Tagliente. “They are a bigger, more physical team – similar to what we will see later on in the season.  Should be a good match up.’’ While the conference is always the first goal, the Tigers will be looking for a great start in the Ivy and some bragging rights in Jersey, too. Broncs Back on Track When Rider headed to Towson, Md., to face Georgetown, the Broncs were mired in a three-game losing streak and fortunately things came together and Rider (3-3, 1-0 NEC) came away with a 3-2 win. “The win against Georgetown was important to us because we did a better job with our scoring opportunities and really played a team game,’’ said Rider second-year coach Alicia Govannicci. “Two of our team goals have been ball movement and communication and we did a good job in working toward them this past weekend which helped us secure the win.” The Broncs face former Northeast Conference rival Lock Haven on Sunday in Pennsylvania. The Broncs are led by former New Egypt standout Megan Normile with five goals and one assist. Olivia Machiavelli has four goals and two assists, Ang Borisow and Semra Said each have three assists. “We have been playing well as a team and really growing each game,’’ said Govannicci. “But we just haven’t been capitalizing on our opportunities.’’