Rutgers University
Louisville
Rutgers Clinches BIG EAST Tournament Berth
Oct 23 | Women's Soccer
PISCATAWAY, NJ - The Rutgers women's soccer team (9-9-1, 5-6 BIG EAST) secured a spot in its sixth consecutive BIG EAST Tournament with a 2-0 victory at Louisville (11-7, 6-5 BIG EAST) Oct. 23 in the regular-season finale.
RU will be the fourth seed in Division B, and will face Division A fifth seed Pittsburgh in the first round either Wednesday, Oct. 26, or Thursday, Oct. 27, in Piscataway. The exact date and time will be announced early this week.
Following a scoreless first half in Lousiville, junior Domenique Esposito (Rivervale, NJ) got RU on the scoreboard in the 72nd minute when she cleaned up Amanda Allessio's (Langhorne, PA) deflected shot. Senior Zoe Avner (Paris, France) later tacked on an insurance goal in the 84th minute, converting her fourth penalty kick of the season.
Redshirt junior Nora Crawford (McLean, VA) made four saves in goal, as Rutgers won its fifth consecutive match and posted its fourth straight shutout.
'I have probably never been so proud of a team,' said sixth-year Rutgers head coach Glenn Crooks. 'The way they continued to stay together and train hard, never letting the early part of the season discourage them - it's really a credit to our upperclassmen for guiding the young players and continuing to work hard while staying positive. We knew what we were facing (after the 1-6 league start), and we just dug ourselves out of it. This weekend was just tremendous. Friday night we played in a driving rain and really couldn't play the way we wanted, but we still found a way to get the win. Today, we could play (in favorable weather conditions), and we were playing a team in Louisville that was fighting for second place in its division and home-field advantage. But we had our backs against the wall and definitely had more at stake, and I thought we played that way. We had a plan of what we needed to do today, and it was one of the best executions we have ever had. It was a shining moment for the back four - they were brilliant. And Nora has worked so hard. She has had some frustrating moments this season, but she kept working hard, and has had two outstanding weekends back to back.'
Rutgers 2, Louisville 0
Women's Soccer BIG EAST Conference Match
Sunday, Oct. 23; Louisville, KY
Rutgers 0 2 2
Louisville 0 0 0
Shots: RU 11, UL 11. Saves: RU 4 (Nora Crawford 4), UL 4 (Deana Waintraub 3, Team 1). Fouls: RU 6, UL 14. Corner Kicks: RU 2, UL 3. Offsides: RU 2, UL 1. Cards: RU 0, UL 0.
Team Time Goal Assist
RU 71:12 Domenique Esposito (6) Amanda Allessio (3)
RU 83:39 Zoe Avner (4)
