Rutgers
Pittsburgh
Rutgers Defeats Pittsburgh 1-0 on Heather O'Reilly Night
Oct 03 | Women's Soccer
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Junior Caycie Gusman (Honolulu, Hawaii) scored her sixth goal of the season and Rutgers held on to defeat Pittsburgh 1-0 in front of a season-high 1,011 fans on Heather O'Reilly night, Friday at Yurcak Field. RU (8-3, 3-1) ended a two-game losing streak with the win over the Panthers (4-8, 1-3). Prior to the game, the Scarlet Knights honored US Women's National Team member and East Brunswick, N.J. native O'Reilly, who won her second gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
"We had a great crowd here to honor Heather O'Reilly, and that really helped us," said head coach Glenn Crooks. "She's a part of the Rutgers family because she's around a lot and she's a great kid who deserves everything she's accomplished. There were a lot of East Brunswick, N.J. fans here tonight to celebrate her. I'm thankful to the number of people that came out for the match tonight and I'm glad we got them a win, because I think they helped us."
Ten minutes into the game, redshirt freshman Ashley Medcalf (Waipahu, Hawaii) sent a long pass into the box for senior Alicia Hall (Port Republic, N.J.), who saw her shot stopped by UP goalkeeper Morie Kephart. The ball bounced into the air, and senior Kristen Edmonds (Metuchen, N.J.) was ruled offsides before she was able to head it in.
With ten minutes to go in the opening stanza, junior Gina DeMaio (Parsippany, N.J.) sent a corner from the right side into the box, where sophomore Ashley Jones (Feasterville, Pa.) was able to gather it and send it towards the goal. Kephart knocked the ball away, right to junior Jenifer Anzivino (Middletown, N.J.), but her shot hit the crossbar and was cleared by Pittsburgh. The two teams went into the half in a scoreless tie.
Rutgers finally got on the board in the 82nd minute. Pittsburgh tried to clear the ball but junior Becky Wise (West Springfield, Mass.) stepped in front of the Panthers player and sent the ball to DeMaio, who tapped it to Gusman on the left side of the goal. The Honolulu, Hawaii native gathered the ball and kicked it to the upper right corner for the score.
"Becky had great anticipation and made a great effort to start the play," said Crooks. "Gina is very skilled at setting people up. I'm so happy for Caycie because she was probably our best player in training yesterday, and we always emphasize how you train translates to what you do in the match. She has worked very hard, she's a clever player, she reads the game so well and she's finishing at a greater frequency now."
| Olympic gold medalist Heather O'Reilly was honored in a pre-game ceremony. |
RU was then able to hold on for the win, thanks to two late saves by junior goalkeeper Erin Guthrie (Sparta, N.J.), and a stellar defense that allowed Pittsburgh only four shots all game.
"These are the kind of games that you look back on at the end of the season where you're thankful that it worked out," said Crooks. "I applaud Pittsburgh because I think they were really well-prepared for the game and they worked extremely hard. I think we finally settled in midway through the second half. It started to click at some point, and I can't explain why, but it did, and that shows the resiliency of this team, which is important. The three points we earned tonight are vital in what we are trying to accomplish."
Rutgers returns to action on Sunday at 1:00 p.m., when No. 9 West Virginia comes to Yurcak Field in a key BIG EAST battle.
GAME NOTES:
Rutgers shutout its second BIG EAST opponent of the season. The Scarlet Knights defeated Villanova 5-0 on Sept. 22. RU has four shutouts in 2008.
The Scarlet Knights held Pittsburgh to a season-best four shots, including a season-best two shots-on-goal.
Junior goalkeeper Erin Guthrie (Sparta, N.J.) recorded the 27th shutout of her career. She remains in second-place on the Rutgers all-time career-shutouts list, trailing Saskia Webber (34) by seven.
Guthrie played the entire match, giving her 5,083 minutes for her career, and moving her into fourth-place on RU's all-time minutes played list.
Junior Caycie Gusman (Honolulu, Hawaii) tallied her career-best sixth goal of the season. Gusman leads the team in that category.
Junior Gina DeMaio (Parsippany, N.J.) recorded her 10th assist of the season, a career-high. She is now tied for fourth-place on Rutgers' all-time career-assists list.
Junior Becky Wise (West Springfield, Mass.) picked up her first assist of the season, and her first assist since recording one against Fairleigh Dickinson on Sept. 23, 2007.
