Rutgers Field Hockey Blanks La Salle, 2-0
Oct 10 | Field Hockey
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (October 10, 2010) – Freshman forward Gia Nappi (Fairfield, N.J.) had a goal and an assist to lead Rutgers to a 2-0 win over La Salle in collegiate field hockey action on Sunday at Bauer Track & Field Complex.
Freshman goalkeeper Sarah Stuby (Roxbury, N.J.), who registered four saves, picked up her first career shutout for the Scarlet Knights (5-9). Rutgers posted season-highs in shots (24) and shots on goal (16).
The Scarlet Knights wore pink uniforms and shoe laces in support of the “Play4 the Cure” initiative to promote breast cancer awareness.
“I think this game is very good motivation going into this coming weekend (versus Providence and Stanford) because the team was talking about in practice (this week) how we need to continue to improve, especially on scoring and getting better quality shots off.” said head coach Liz Tchou. “The urgency is definitely there and wanting to win is there; it’s just the quality of executing inside the circle needs to be better.”
The first score of the game came courtesy of a penalty stroke earned by Nappi. La Salle goalkeeper Emma Ruth cleared the ball with the back of the stick on the previous play, back-to-back shots from junior forward Nicole Gentile (Jamison, Pa.) and Nappi.
Nappi went high and to the right with the stroke to give RU a 1-0 lead with 10:50 to go in the first period. The game-winner was the first of Nappi’s career.
The Scarlet Knights controlled possession for the majority of the first half until the Explorers (5-8) grabbed three-straight corners in a 90-second span with less than five minutes to go before intermission. La Salle was unable to capitalize on the opportunities.
In the second, Rutgers continued to pepper La Salle goalie Ruth with shots. At the 45:09 mark, the Scarlet Knights picked up their seventh penalty corner and second strike. Junior Mackenzie Noda (Allentown, Pa.) sent the ball in to Nappi, who passed it back to Noda just to the left of the cage. The back then tipped the ball Gentile, who found the back of the cage for a 2-0 RU advantage.
“It was very exciting to pick up the shutout,” said Stuby after the game. “I feel on defense our marking has improved greatly. We did a lot of drills this week to work on the marking and I think it really helped us because we were on the ball almost all the time.”
The Scarlet Knights are in Rhode Island for a pair of contests next weekend, taking on BIG EAST rival Providence on Saturday, Oct. 16 at 11 a.m. and facing Stanford on Sunday, Oct. 17 at 1 p.m.
