Rutgers Women's Soccer Advances to Sweet 16

Sunday, November 16

PISCATAWAY, N.J.

12:00 PM

Rutgers University

No. 7 Oklahoma State

Nov 16 | Women's Soccer

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers women's soccer team (13-6-2) advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2001, eliminating No. 7 Oklahoma State (18-1-4) on penalty kicks, 4-2. The Scarlet Knights will travel to face top-seed Stanford on Friday, Nov. 21, at 10:00 p.m. The Cardinal defeated UC Santa Barbara 2-0 in the first round and Kansas 5-0 in the second round.

On a windy and cold Sunday afternoon at Yurcak Field, the two teams played hard for 110 minutes, but ended in a zero-zero tie. Both teams had opportunities to score, but goalies were up to the task. In the 31^st minute, junior Gina DeMaio (Parsippany, N.J.) took a free kick from the left side of the box, 30-yards away from the goal. She sent a bullet towards the goal, but OSU keeper Erin Stigler was there to make the save.

GK Erin Guthrie made 7 saves on the day. (Tom Ciszek/NJSportsPhoto)

RU junior goalkeeper Erin Guthrie (Sparta, N.J.) faced six shots in the first half and eight in the second. She recorded five saves in the first two periods to keep OSU off the board. In the overtimes, Guthrie again had to come up with key saves to keep Oklahoma State scoreless. The Cowgirls took four shots in the first overtime and two in the second, but Guthrie recorded two saves in the extra periods to send the game to penalty kicks.

OSU's Siera Strawser connected on the first kick for a 1-0 lead. RU junior Jenifer Anzivino (Middletown, N.J.) then calmly made good on her PK to tie the game. On Oklahoma State's next attempt, Guthrie made a diving stop of Bridget Miller's shot, and junior Kristie Lang (East Brunswick, N.J.) connected on her attempt to give RU a 2-1 advantage.

After the Cowgirls' Katie Richardson sent her shot wide right, junior Gina DeMaio (Parsippany, N.J.) connected to give RU a 3-1 lead. Yolanda Odenyo scored to bring OSU within one, but then junior Becky Wise (West Springfield, Mass.) ended the game, kicking the ball past Stigler to send RU to the next round of the tournament.

"Our kickers are money," said head coach Glenn Crooks. "Anzivino, Lang, DeMaio, Wise, they don't miss. All of them have experienced this in the post season, and I credit their composure in a high pressure situation. But the biggest thing I will take from all this is the play of Erin Guthrie. Once again, she makes a save in the PK round, and you can't really put into words how something like that will inspire you. The tone was set with Anzivino burying hers, but Guthrie comes up with the save at that moment and I felt pretty strongly about our chances at that point."

Oklahoma State came into the tournament as the highest scoring team in the nation, averaging 3.48 goals per game. OSU outshot Rutgers 20-8 and took eight corner kicks to RU's three, but the Scarlet Knights' played tough defensively and Guthrie recorded seven saves to preserve the shutout. For the RU junior, it was the 33^rd shutout of her career, one away from tying Saskia Webber for first-place in RU history.

GAME NOTES:

Today's game was the Scarlet Knights' first contest that went to penalty kicks since Nov. 1, 2007, in the first round of the BIG EAST Tournament at St. John's. After finishing the second overtime in a scoreless tie, the Scarlet Knights advanced 4-2 on PKs.

RU has seen its last two second round NCAA Tournament matches go to penalty kicks. In 2006, Rutgers fell to Boston College 4-2 on PKs, after finishing in a scoreless tie.

Rutgers advances to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2001. That year the Scarlet Knights defeated Boston 4-1 in the first round and Princeton 1-0 in the second round, before falling at North Carolina 2-1.

Junior goalkeeper Erin Guthrie (Sparta, N.J.) recorded the 33^rd shutout of her career. She remains in second-place in RU history, one away from tying Saskia Webber for first-place.

Guthrie has set a new career-high in saves, with 77 on the season. Her previous high was 68, set in 2006 and 2007.

Guthrie has played 1,946 minutes in 2008, a new RU fourth-best single-season total.

Junior Gina DeMaio (Parsippany, N.J.) took four shots against the Cowgirls, giving her 212 for her career. She moves into third-place on RU's all-time career-shots list. She needs four shots to tie Christa Aluotta for second-place.

DeMaio has taken 69 shots in 2008, tying Carli Lloyd for the eighth-best single-season total in RU history. She previously set the sixth-best (72, 2006) and seventh-best (71, 2007) single-season totals in Rutgers history.

POST-GAME QUOTES:

Sophomore back Rheanne Sleiman (Vancouver, Canada):

The goal of the defense against the No. 1 scoring team in the country:

"[Our plan was] to try to deny all the long balls to the forwards and for us to step up and win that first ball. But I couldn't have done it and it wouldn't have been the same without Erin and the rest of the back line."

On playing with 15-25 mile-per-hour winds:

"The first half was the hardest because we were against the wind. We knew that we had to kick the ball that much harder and that we had to be that much more careful back there, covering Oklahoma State."

On going into penalty kicks:

"It's exciting. After all the work we've done in practice, none of us was tired out there after 110 minutes, it was just exciting."

On playing at Yurcak Field:

"The support we had was huge for us. It was awesome and it really helped us."

Junior goalkeeper Erin Guthrie (Sparta, N.J.):

On playing in 15-25 mph winds:

"The wind was a factor, they put so much pressure on us that when the ball went up in the air and the wind took hold you had to make a decision really quickly because they put so much pressure on us and they were such a big team and it was really hard to judge the ball. But in a way it wasn't a problem because we were so organized and we covered for each other."

On OSU's second penalty kick, that she was able to knock away:

"On [that kick] she kind of gave it away with how she was standing, so I knew from the second she kicked it where she was going. But with PKs even knowing where they will shoot doesn't necessarily help you. But when your team hits every single shot it takes pressure off of me."

On playing at Yurcak Field:

"I think that we all felt so calm going into the games. It was so exciting, playing here, people coming up to you and congratulating you, it was just very exciting playing in this environment."

Head coach Glenn Crooks:

On RU's defenders:

"As far as our backs go, for the most part this year they have been the rock of our team. Their performances, game in and game out, have been very consistent and at a very high level. If you look at the box scores, the majority of the matches we limit the opponents, and a big part of that is how organized our backs are and how they play together. There have been times this year where it's gotten a little out of sorts, but I tell you what they got it back together in time for the NCAA Tournament."

On going into penalty kicks:

"The coaching staff felt very confident going into the penalty kicks because we had Erin in goal, and I'm sure the rest of the team did as well."

On setting the penalty kicks lineup:

"We didn't think about it until five minutes remaining in the second overtime, and then we started making our lineup. But we have our regulars, Anzivino, Lang, DeMaio and Wise are money."

Playing in the BIG EAST prepared the team for the NCAA Tournament:

"Our conference is tough. The games are physical, there are a good number of teams that play soccer. We play soccer in this league, and that is what also helped prepare us for this tournament. I am a big fan of the BIG EAST. We have quality coaches and quality players in this league, and RPI aside I think we are one of the top conferences in the country."

On RU connecting on all four penalty kicks:

"Our kickers are money. Anzivino, Lang, DeMaio, Wise, they don't miss. All of them have experienced this in the post season, and I credit their composure in a high pressure situation. But the biggest thing I will take from all this is the play of Erin Guthrie. Once again, she makes a save in the PK round, and you can't really put into words how something like that will inspire you. The tone was set with Anzivino burying hers, but Guthrie comes up with the save at that moment and I felt pretty strongly about our chances at that point."

On RU's defensive mentality:

"I think there are a couple parts to defending that are important. It starts with organization, and our team works very hard to be organized, because you do have to work hard to get in to certain spots, and then it's a mentality. A lot of those battles are just one-on-one battles that you have to win, but you have to know that you always have a teammate covering for you. I think that we have had that for the most part since I've been here, because that's what we demand out of this team, but it's been especially true this year."