Rutgers' Players Earn BIG EAST Weekly Honors
Oct 23 | Women's Soccer
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers women's soccer freshmen Erin Guthrie (Sparta, N.J.) and Kristie Lang (East Brunswick, N.J.) and senior co-captain Kim Brand????o (Rahway, N.J.) each earned BIG EAST weekly awards the conference announced today. Guthrie was named the league's Goalkeeper of the Week for the second time this season, while Lang earned Rookie of the Week honors, her first conference award. Brand????o was named to the weekly honor roll.
Guthrie made six saves in wins over Cincinnati (Oct. 20) and Louisville (Oct. 22) as the Scarlet Knights posted two shutouts. In the match against the Cardinals, she tallied four saves as Rutgers secured a quarterfinal home match in the Big East Tournament. In the last 30 minutes of the match, Guthrie made three critical saves
In the last two minutes of the game, Louisville tallied two more shots on goal. At the 1:12 mark Monique Gjini nailed a shot from the top of the goal box, but Guthrie made the play, blocking the ball out of bounds and preventing the score. Louisville's final attempt came with one second left from inside the box off the foot of the Cardinals' Amy Seng. Guthrie again came up with her fourth save of the match as time expired.
Lang earned her first career BIG EAST honors after scoring the game-winning goal in the 1-0 win over the Cardinals. With just 4:41 remaining, Tierney Brady (Brick, N.J.) dribbled around a Louisville defender and made a pass from the right side of the field, lifting the ball over the defense to Lang in the goal box to put it in the back of the net for Rutgers. The goal was Lang's fourth on the season.
Brand????o led a Rutgers defense as the Scarlet Knights broke the school record 11 shutouts in a season with its 12th and 13th against Cincinnati and Louisville. In the second half against the Cardinals, Brandao cleared the ball three times from inside the penalty box to protect the Rutgers lead. With 39 minutes left, she stopped a Louisville breakaway inside the box, and on the Cardinals' next possession, blocked a shot. With 12:48 to play, she stripped the ball from a Louisville forward at the penalty box line to end another Cardinal scoring threat.
The Scarlet Knights will host a BIG EAST quarterfinal match-up with Connecticut on Saturday, Oct. 28, at 7:30 p.m. The match will proceed the Rutgers' men's quarterfinal match against an opponent to be determined. The men's match is slated for 5:00 p.m.
