Rutgers Faces Final BIG EAST Tilts
Oct 20 | Women's Soccer
PISCATAWAY, NJ - The Rutgers women's soccer team, battling for a spot in the BIG EAST Tournament, will play its final matches of the regular season on the road this weekend. The Scarlet Knights will play at Cincinnati (3-10-3, 1-7-1 BIG EAST) Friday, Oct. 21, at 7:00 p.m., followed by the season finale Sunday, Oct. 23, at Louisville at 1:00 p.m. Live statistics will be available on www.scarletknights.com.
Rutgers is 7-9-1 overall and 3-6 in BIG EAST Conference play this season following a 3-0 victory against St. John's (6-8-3, 2-5-2 BIG EAST) Oct. 16. Freshman Kristen Edmonds (Metuchen, NJ) leads the Scarlet Knights with 16 points (5 g, 6 a). Junior Domenique Esposito (Rivervale, NJ) has added 14 points (5 g, 4 a). Redshirt junior Nora Crawford (McLean, VA) has posted a 0.99 goals-against average, .691 save percentage and four shutouts in goal for Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights, fighting for a posteason berth in the BIG EAST Tournament, are four points out the fifth and final spot in the division standings. RU returned 13 letterwinners and six starters from a 2004 team that posted a 9-10-1 overall record and a 4-5-1 mark to finish seventh in the BIG EAST Conference standings. Rutgers earned its fifth straight BIG EAST Tournament berth last season, and has played in two of the last four NCAA Tournaments. The 2005 Scarlet Knights are led by senior midfielder Zoe Avner (Paris, France), a member of the 2004 All-BIG EAST Third Team and the 2005 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team.
Cincinnati is 3-10-3 overall and 1-7-1 in the BIG EAST Conference following a 3-2 overtime loss to South Florida (6-6-3, 1-5-3 BIG EAST) Oct. 16. Freshman Jenn Johannigman leads the Bearcats with 12 points (6 g). Junior Becky Imhoff has added six assists. Senior Sherry Slye has posted a 1.78 goals-against average, a .737 save percentage and four shutouts in goal for the Bearcats. Cincinnati returned 17 letterwinners and seven starters from a 2004 team that posted a 4-14 overall record and a 1-9 mark to finish 14th in the Conference USA standings.
Louisville is 10-6 overall and 5-4 in the BIG EAST Conference following a 2-1 overtime loss to No. 12 Marquette (14-2-1, 6-2 BIG EAST) Oct. 16. The Cardinals will host Seton Hall Oct. 21. Junior Jamie Craft leads the Cardinals with 21 points (9 g, 3 a). Freshman Deana Waintraub has posted a 1.13 goals-against average, a .792 save percentage and six shutouts in goal for the Cardinals. Louisville returned 17 letterwinners and eight starters from a 2004 team that posted a 12-5-3 overall record and a 5-2-3 mark to finish fifth in the Conference USA standings.
Rutgers is 2-1 (.667) all time against Cincinnati, including a 0-1 (.000) mark when playing on the Bearcats' home field. The last time the two teams met was Oct. 29, 1995, a 5-3 RU victory in Piscataway. This will mark the first-ever meeting between Rutgers and Louisville.
With two BIG EAST Conference regular-season matches remaining, Rutgers (3-6) is tied with DePaul (2-4-3) for sixth place in Division B with nine points apiece. Seton Hall (3-5-1) sits in the fifth place with 10 points. The top five teams from each division will qualify for the BIG EAST Tournament, which begins with first-round matches Oct. 26-27 at campus sites. GAME NOTES
