No. 23/19 WSOC Opens B1G Tournament

Nov. 4, 2014

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Nov. 4, 2014) - The No. 23/19 Rutgers women's soccer team enters its first Big Ten Conference Tournament as the No. 4 seed and will take on No. 5 Iowa on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. in West Lafayette, Ind.

BTN Plus | The match will be streamed live online by BTN Plus. The Scarlet Knights enter the weekend ranked by the NSCAA (No. 23), Soccer America (No. 19) and TopDrawerSoccer.com (No. 22) for the fifth consecutive week.

Dating back to the 2000 season, Rutgers has qualified for 15 consecutive postseason conference tournaments. From 2000-2012, Rutgers advanced to the BIG EAST Tournament 13 times and in 2013, made a run to the American Athletic Conference finals in its only year in the league.

Rutgers Quick Kicks

Defense has been a key part of RU's success this season. Rutgers is 11th in the nation in GAA (0.52), 15th in save percentage (.862) and 17th in shutout percentage (.588).
Senior Stef Scholz (South Hackensack, N.J.) is tied for third in the Big Ten with four game-winning goals.
Freshman goalkeeper Casey Murphy (Bridgewater, N.J.) is second in the Big Ten in GAA (0.52), save percentage (.857), shutouts (nine) and shutout percentage (.530).
Sophomore midfielder Jennifer Andresen(Franklin Lakes, N.J.) started her first game of the season in RU's match at Ohio State. In all, the Scarlet Knights have used just four different lineups this season.
The Scarlet Knights' multi-goal effort against Ohio State was just their third of the conference season.
Scholz is currently ninth on RU's all-time goals list with 21 for her career. She is also tied for seventh all-time with eight game-winning goals in her RU career.
The Scarlet Knights have recorded double-digit shots in all 17 matches this season, including 35 of their last 39 contests dating back to the 2013 season.
Rutgers is 16-18-4 all-time against the Big Ten Conference, but has won 11 of its last 16 (11-4-1) matches against league opponents dating back to the 2008 NCAA Tournament. Prior to this season, RU topped Ohio State, 1-0, in double overtime on Aug. 29, 2012 and defeated Penn State in consecutive meetings: 1-0 at No. 13 PSU on Sept. 6, 2009 and 2-1 vs. No. 20 PSU on Nov. 14, 2008 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Rutgers has captured three victories against ranked opponents this season: 1-0 at No. 6/7 Penn State (Oct. 11), 1-0 vs. No. RV/21 Michigan (Sept. 21) and 1-0 vs. No. RV/13 Iowa (Sept. 28). It is the most wins vs. ranked opponents since at least the 2008 season.

RU has displayed its depth time and time again this season. Through 17 matches, head coach Mike O'Neill has cycled in at least six reserves in each match, with six logging more than 10 minutes in 16 of 17 contests. The Scarlet Knights have used at least eight reserves in eight of 10 contests dating back to the team's 1-0 win over Michigan State on Sept. 19.

Scouting Iowa

Iowa enters the conference tournament on a two-game losing streak after falling by 2-1 margins against Nebraska (Oct. 31) and Penn State (Oct. 26) to close the season.
Cloe Lacasse leads the Hawkeyes with 28 points on 11 goals and six assists. Three other Iowa players - Melanie Pickert (7g, 0a), Bri Toelle (3g, 5a) and Corey Burns (2g, 7a) - boast double-digit point totals this season.
Hannah Clark has started 14 games in net for Iowa. She is 8-5-1 with a 0.95 GAA, .800 save percentage and seven shutouts.
Iowa is outscoring opponents 17-5 in the first half of matches this season.

All-time Series vs. the Hawkeyes

Rutgers evened the all-time series against Iowa at 1-1 on Sept. 28 with a 1-0 win in Iowa City, Iowa. A goal from sophomore Madison Tiernan was the difference in the match, giving Rutgers an upset over the then-No. 13 Hawkeyes.

Follow Rutgers Athletics on Facebook (Rutgers Athletics ) and Twitter (@RUAthletics ) for all of the latest news and updates. For specific updates regarding Rutgers women's soccer, follow the program on Facebook (Rutgers Women's Soccer ), Twitter (@RUWSoccer ) and Instagram (@RUWSoccer). Fans can receive timely information, including special offers and giveaways throughout the year on our social media outlets along with www.ScarletKnights.com .

Schedule

Players Mentioned

Jennifer Andresen

Casey Murphy

Madison Tiernan

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