Erin Guthrie
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Oct. 29, 2009) – No. 9/11 Rutgers will participate in its 10th-straight BIG EAST Championship Sunday, Nov. 1 at Yurcak Field. The Scarlet Knights received a bye to the quarterfinals, taking on the No. 3 seed of the American Division, West Virginia at 1 p.m.
Sunday’s game will be streamed live through Knightvision Broadband on www.scarletknights.com. Danny Breslauer will give the play by play with Adam Helfgott on the color. The game can also be heard on WRSU 88.7 with Mike Robinson and Steve Beeston on the call.
Rutgers finished the regular season 13-2-4 overall with a 7-1-3 mark in BIG EAST play. West
Virginia notched an 8-5-6 mark overall, going 5-3-3 in the BIG EAST. The two teams did not meet in the regular season.
Through 19 games, the Scarlet Knights have dropped just two contests, which ties the lowest amount to this point in the season in program history (in 2006, RU went 14-2-3 through 19 games).
This will be the Scarlet Knights 10th-straight BIG EAST Championship, all under the direction of head coach Glenn Crooks. Under Crooks, RU is 4-8-2 in the BIG EAST Tournament.
In 1992, Rutgers set the school record for fewest goals allowed in a single season with 11 in 19 games. Through 19 games this season, the squad has only allowed nine. The squad boasts a .45 goals against average in 2009, which could possibly break the single season record of .50 set in 2006.
Senior goalkeeper Erin Guthrie sits atop the BIG EAST in goals against average (.43).The captain also came into the weekend ranked sixth in the NCAA in goals against average. Of the five student-athletes in front of her, all have seen less time in goal. The keeper has allowed just eight goals all season. The netminder has ten shutouts on the season, most notably against then ranked-No. 13 Penn State, the first time the Nittany Lions had been left scoreless in 2009, and BIG EAST foes Georgetown and St. John’s.
As a team, the Scarlet Knights have 11 shutouts on the season –all but one in Guthrie’s name. That statistic placed RU in a tie for 19th in the NCAA coming into the weekend.
Last season in the BIG EAST Quarterfinals, RU battled but was unable to come up with the equalizer at Marquette, falling 1-0. Ashley Bares scored in the 52nd minute and the Golden Eagles would not relinquish their lead.
All-time against West Virginia, Rutgers holds a 4-8-1 record. In the BIG EAST Tournament, the two teams have met twice in the semifinals – once on Nov. 8, 2002 and again on Nov. 3, 2006. The Scarlet Knights lost the first meeting, 3-2, but earned the 3-2 win three years ago.
Junior Megan Mischler paces West Virginia with 12 points on five goals and two assists this season. The Moon Township, Pa. native has three game winners, including in the last game of the regular season, a 1-0 victory over Providence.
In goal for the Mountaineers is junior Kerri Butler, who owns a 8-5-6 record with ten shutouts on the season. The netminder boasts a .60 GAA, allowing just 12 goals get by all season.
At the helm of West Virginia is Nikki Izzo Brown, who just earned her 200th victory at West Virginia. Izzo-Brown – the only coach in WVU women’s soccer history – is in her 14th season with the Mountaineers.
