Rutgers Women's Soccer Downs Louisville, 3-0
Oct 24 | Women's Soccer
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Oct. 24, 2010) – Fighting for a bye to the quarterfinals, Rutgers women’s soccer dropped Louisville, 3-0, Sunday afternoon at Yurcak Field. The Scarlet Knights were led by redshirt junior Tricia DiPaolo (Sparta, N.J.), who notched a goal and an assist on the afternoon.
With the RU win and a Villanova win, the Scarlet Knights secure the No. 3 seed in the National Division and will face the No. 2 seed of the American Division, West Virginia on Sunday, Oct. 31
“It has been an emotional weekend,” said head coach Glenn Crooks. “The seniors did a great job today. Without the victories this weekend, we might not be playing again this year. We knew what we needed to do. It’s nice because we feel like we have played quality soccer in some games and not come away with the result, so to get the wins this weekend is a credit to these girls.”
RU (10-8-1, 5-5-1) connected in the 60th minute on a give-and-go with DiPaolo andredshirt senior Gina DeMaio (Parsippany, N.J.). DiPaolo passed it to DeMaio on the right side of the box, who fed it back into the midfielder. DiPaolo struck from 15 yards out, burying the shot into the top left of the net.
Not satisfied with one score, DiPaolo set up another just two minutes and 17 seconds later – the shortest span between two goals this season. The captain crossed the ball from the right side, setting up redshirt sophomore April Price (Mechanicsville, Va.) who headed the ball into the left side of the net to put RU up 2-0.
Redshirt junior Ashley Medcalf (Waipahu, Hawaii) finished off the Cardinals (10-8-0, 4-7-0) in the 80th minute on a set-up from senior Ashley Jones (Feasterville, Pa.). On the end line, Jones fed it into Medcalf who beat a UofL defender to power the ball into the goal.
Freshman goalkeeper Samantha Perretty (Parkland, Fla.) earned the win in net, as she grabbed three saves in the second half to move to 2-2-1 on the season. Redshirt sophomore Emmy Simpkins (Concord, N.C.) played the first 45 minutes, making one save on two shots.
Rutgers had its best first half opportunity in the 23rd minute as DeMaio took a free kick 30 yards out on the right sideline. Sending it into the box, Medcalf headed it towards the net but UofL netminder Taylor Vancil pushed the shot away. Sophomore Lindsey McNabb (Montville, N.J.) corralled the rebound, but her shot was blocked.
The Scarlet Knights will travel to Morgantown, W.Va. to take on West Virginia in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Tournament Sunday, Oct. 31.
Game Notes
*The span between the two RU goals (2:17) was the shortest since Aug. 24, 2009 against UMBC when the Scarlet Knights tallied two scores in 1:46.
*Rutgers moves to 4-1-1 all-time against Louisville.
*All three Tricia DiPaolo scores have been game-winners this season.
*April Price moves into a tie with Karla Schacher for the team lead with five scores apiece.
*With today’s assist, Gina DeMaio moves within one point of Shannon Nagle for eighth place in the RU record book with 55 career points.
*Last season, the Scarlet Knights faced West Virginia in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Tournament as the No. 2 seed in the National Division.
