Rutgers
No. 9 West Virginia
Rutgers Defeats No. 9 West Virginia 1-0
Oct 05 | Women's Soccer
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Junior Caycie Gusman (Honolulu, Hawaii) scored her second game-winner in as many matches and Rutgers held on to defeat No. 9 West Virginia 1-0, Sunday afternoon at Yurcak Field. The Scarlet Knights (9-3, 4-1) picked up their second consecutive shutout victory over a BIG EAST opponent and gave West Virginia (7-2-4, 2-1-2) its first conference loss.
| Junior forward Caycie Gusman scored her career-high seventh goal of the season. (Tom Ciszek/NJSportsPhoto) |
After a scoreless first half, Rutgers was able to get on the board in the 70th minute. The Scarlet Knights were able to clear a West Virginia attack and senior Courtney Roarty (Edison, N.J.) saved the ball from going out of bounds at midfield, chipping it back to fellow classmate Kristen Edmonds (Metuchen, N.J.). Edmonds made a nice move to elude a defender, starting a two-on-one fast break with Gusman.
Edmonds dribbled the ball down the field until the lone defender came out on her, then sent a perfectly placed pass to Gusman on the right side of the box. The Honolulu, Hawaii native, alone with WVU goalkeeper Kerri Butler, sent a low liner to the bottom right side of the goal to give RU the lead. The score marked only the fifth goal Butler has given up all season.
"Kristen made a nice move and she had great control on the ball," said Crooks. "One of the things that is so difficult to defend in soccer is when the offensive player is coming right at you, and that is what Kristen did. On the goal, Caycie always knows where to be. She's one of our smartest players tactically and she always puts herself in a good spot, and that's why she is our leading goal scorer. I'm very happy for what she has accomplished so far this season."
Rutgers was able to hold on for the win thanks to a stellar defense and solid play from junior goalkeeper Erin Guthrie (Sparta, N.J.), who recorded four saves in the game.
West Virginia came in ranked as the top team in the mid-atlantic region, while RU was No. 4. The Mountaineers are also ranked nationally by Soccerbuzz (No. 9), Soccer America (No. 10), NSCAA/adidas (No. 13) Top Drawer Soccer (No. 14) and Soccer Times (No. 16).
RU returns to action on Friday, Oct. 10, when it hosts Louisville in the first of its final two home games of the regular season. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.
GAME NOTES:
Today's game was the first against the Mountaineers since Nov. 3, 2006, when RU earned a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over No. 8 West Virginia in the BIG EAST Championship semifinals.
The Scarlet Knights shutout their fifth opponent of 2008, and their third BIG EAST foe. They previously clean-sheeted Villanova 5-0 on Sept. 22, and Pittsburgh 1-0 on Oct. 3.
Junior forward Caycie Gusman (Honolulu, Hawaii) scored her career-high seventh goal of the season. She leads the team in that category and ranks among the top-ten in the BIG EAST in goals scored.
Senior Kristen Edmonds (Metuchen, N.J.) recorded her fifth assist of the season, her highest total since tallying six in 2005.
Edmonds now has 15 assists for her career, moving into a tie for eighth-place on RU's all-time assists list.
Junior goalkeeper Erin Guthrie (Sparta, N.J.) recorded the 28th shutout of her career. She trails Saskia Webber (34) by six for first-place on RU's all-time shutouts list. Guthrie has four clean-sheets in 2008.
Guthrie played all 90 minutes in the match, giving her 5,173 minutes in her career. She moves into third-place on RU's all-time minutes-played list.
