Rutgers
Stanford
Rutgers Edged by Stanford 1-0
Sep 08 | Women's Soccer
PISCATAWAY, NJ - The Rutgers women's soccer team (3-1) dropped its first game of the season, 1-0, to Stanford University (3-2) on Sept. 8 at Yurcak Field.
The first half of the game, the Cardinal dominated offensively, taking five shots, while the Scarlet Knights failed to get a good look at the goal. In the 16th minute, Ali Riley scored what would be the game-winning goal for Stanford.
"It was pretty obvious to anyone who was watching the match that Stanford really took it to us the first half, so there was a major improvement in the second," said head coach Glenn Crooks. "I really wasn't angry at halftime, I just felt we, after a pretty good start where we had some opportunities, we let them take it to us."
At the 13:08 mark, Stanford was on its way to another good look at the goal, but Jaime Komar (Matawan, N.J.)chased down Jenkins, knocking the ball out of bounds from the top of the goal box. Kim Brand????o (Rahway, N.J.) put in another impressive defensive effort in the 36th minute, saving another Cardinal breakaway.
With 7:20 left to play in the first half, the Scarlet Knights saw their first good look at the goal on a free kick. Gina DeMaio (Parsippany, N.J.) took the kick for Rutgers from the right side of the field, putting it right in front of the goal, but Stanford goalie Alex Gamble snatched it out of the air just before Brandao could get a head on it.
Kristen Edmonds (Metuchen, N.J.) almost had Rutgers in its second scoring opportunity of the game on a breakway with five minutes remaining in the half. As DeMaio nailed the ball ahead of Edmonds, she got in front of the Cardinal defensive line and was called for offsides.
"We were too tentative on defense and on offense," Crooks said. "We can't allow that to happen. We're too good to allow that to happen. The second half was much better than the first and that's an example of how every minute counts and we lost the match in the first half."
In the second half of the match, the Scarlet Knights took four shots and produced two opportunities to even the score.
In the 57th minute, DeMaio again sent a perfect ball out of the midfield, this time to Caycie Gusman (Honolulu, Hawaii). Gamble came out of the box to challenge Gusman on the play as she missed just wide of the goal.
Stanford nearly scored again in the 68th minute, but Erin Guthrie (Sparta, N.J.) came up with a big save for the Scarlet Knights. Riley had the ball on a breakaway, looking for her second goal of the game, when Guthrie came out of the box and challenged her, blocking and snatching the ball to make the save for Rutgers.
The Cardinal got another attack with 16:11 remaining as Marisa Abegg sent the ball ahead to Kelley O'Hara on a breakaway. Before Abegg could get a head on it, Guthrie swatted it out of the air to a Scarlet Knight defender to save another goal.
"Those are the kinds of saves you need to keep you in a match, whether you're winning by a goal, tied or down by a goal," Crooks said. "Those two saves in particular were big-time, and it really did provide some momentum for us and gave us some energy on the attacking side."
That momentum was evident when Ashley Lunemann (Hillsborough, N.J.) nearly tied the game in the 88th minute from just outside the goal box. As Stanford cleared the ball from the goal box, Lunemann came up with the loose ball and blasted a kick from the left side of the field that nailed the crossbar.
Rutgers will wrap up a three-game homestand on Sunday, Sept. 10, when the team hosts Farleigh Dickinson at 3:00 p.m. Sunday's action will also feature Stanford versus Long Island University preceding the Rutgers game at 12:00 p.m.
Stanford 1, Rutgers 0 Women's Soccer Friday, September 8, 2006; Yurcak Field; Piscataway, NJ
Stanford 1 0 1 Shots: SU 10, RU 4. Saves: SU 0 (Alex Gamble, 0), RU 3 (Erin Guthrie 3). Fouls: SU 11, RU 3. Corner Kicks: SU 2, RU 2. Offsides: SU 1, RU 1. Cards: SU 1, RU 0. Time Team Goal Assist15:54 SU Ali Riley unassisted
Rutgers 0 0 0
