Women's Soccer 2016 Season Review
Dec 19 | Women's Soccer
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Rutgers women's soccer standard grows higher and higher by the season. The Scarlet Knights, led by head coach Mike O'Neill, associate head coach Meghan Ryan, and assistant coaches Lubos Ancin and Tricia DiPaolo, expect to compete for championships year in and year out, and 2016 was no different.
Rutgers closed the year ranked No. 25 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Rankings for the third-straight season, advanced to its second consecutive Big Ten Championship, and punched its ticket to a fifth NCAA Tournament in a row.
"I think we're always happy with the year when we have good players and good people involved with the program," O'Neill said. "We're very fortunate that we have a great family culture with our student-athletes. The success of the program is always going to exist when you have people like that involved with the program. But I think the other piece of the puzzle is how you do on the field. We continuously ask the players to come in and work hard and continue to raise the bar.
"It is always our goal to be the last team playing and our standard is to come in and complete for championships every year. We had an opportunity to do that in Big Ten play and we fell a little bit short. But we're getting that experience and now we have to be able to turn that experience into success and win a Big Ten Championship."
RU went 12-5-6 overall on the season and 4-2-5 in conference play, defeating four ranked opponents along the way. The double-digit winning season was the program's 23rd in 33 years of soccer, while the NCAA bid was the program's 11th all-time.
Following a trip to the NCAA Women's College Cup in 2015 as one of the final four teams in the nation, RU faced a considerable challenge. The Scarlet Knights, intent on returning to the final four, needed to replace 16 departing players, many of whom were part of the most decorated class in program history.
"I think it was one of the bigger challenges, but I think the upperclassmen did a really good job," Ryan said. "I think the first thing that we accomplished was making them into a team, making them into a family. Once we figured that out, what we were able to teach them on the field grew, and I think that's a big reason we were able to get better every single game. The upperclassmen did a really good job, and the underclassmen embraced it as well."
"The incoming players knew what the standard was all about and they knew they needed to work hard to make sure this process occurred quickly, enabling us to reach our goals," Ancin added. "It is such a short period of time to make sure that we get there and perform as a team. They were very open to learning and very willing to give their best every day."
In the nonconference portion of the schedule, Rutgers posted a 5-1-1 mark, starting with an emphatic 4-1 win at Rider. The win over the Broncs included three-point performances from captain Madison Tiernan and freshman midfielder Nicole Whitley. The team's only loss during the stretch came against eventual 2016 College Cup participant, Georgetown, in overtime at Yurcak Field.
The Scarlet Knights grew in confidence with each game and rebounded with a five-match unbeaten streak (4-0-1) that included a 2-0 blanking of No. 21 Northwestern. Junior Colby Ciarrocca and senior Erica Murphy, key components of the RU offense, scored the goals.
"You bring all these players in and they all come from different backgrounds with different personalities, but the challenge every year is how quickly you can turn them into a team in such a short period of time. And it's not just the coaches that have to do that, it's the leadership, it's the upperclassmen, it's the returning players. The way that they embraced it was impressive," O'Neill said.
Following a string of four-straight draws toward the end of the season, RU clicked at the right time, defeating No. 21 Penn State on the road in the Big Ten Quarterfinals by a convincing 2-0 margin. Murphy opened the scoring in the 28th minute before Tiernan finished a shot from distance in the 72nd for insurance.
RU followed that win with another over a ranked Wildcat team in the Big Ten Semifinals, sending the program to its second-straight Big Ten Tournament final and third conference final in the last four seasons.
The Scarlet Knights' conference title hopes fell short against No. 8 Minnesota in the Big Ten final.
"The coaching staff knew that this program could compete and battle with the best in the nation because of how dedicated, determined, and driven they were from day one," Ryan said.
The program went on to earn its fifth-straight NCAA bid and advanced to its third second-round game in four seasons after knocking off Harvard, 3-0. Tiernan scored twice, freshman Taylor Aylmer added another on a Ciarrocca assist, and fifth-year senior goalkeeper Alana Jimenez recorded her 11th clean sheet of the year.
Georgetown, which fell to eventual national champion USC in the NCAA College Cup Semifinals, eliminated the Scarlet Knights by a 2-0 score in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 18. Including that match, RU recorded a combined 78 starts from members of its freshman class.
"Those players coming here knew what the challenges were and embraced them. When you come here we expect you to compete for championships every year, and that's what we're going to do," O'Neill said.
"The senior class has created a culture that brings the type of players that we want to recruit for the program and who continue to enhance the culture of the Rutgers women's soccer family. Players that have played in the big games, that have competed for championships year-in, year-out at the club level, that are accountable for their development," DiPaolo said.
Following the season, senior captain and center back Erin Smith, along with fellow captain Tiernan, were named to the NSCAA All-Great Lakes Region Second Team. Smith, who started the final 73 matches of her RU career, also collected First Team All-Big Ten honors.
Other conference honorees included Tiernan (Second Team), who led Rutgers with 11 goals and 28 points; Whitley (Third Team, Freshman Team), who earned Freshman of the Year laurels for pacing the league with 10 assists; Aylmer (Freshman Team); and starting center back Amanda Visco (Freshman Team).
Tiernan and starting rookie center back Chantelle Swaby, who scored the game-tying goal in the Big Ten Championship match at Minnesota, were named to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team.
Senior captain Tori Prager, starter of all 23 matches at midfield, earned the program's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award distinction.
In addition to receiving accolades, several players rewrote the Rutgers history books. Tiernan finished her career at Rutgers second all-time in shots (275), tied for fifth in game-winning goals (nine), sixth in total goals (25), and seventh in points (66).
Tiernan (88), Prager (87), and Smith (87) all finished their careers top-10 all-time in matches played. Tiernan ended tied for fourth, while Prager and Smith ended tied for seventh.
On the single-season list, Jimenez's 11 shutouts tied for third, Whitley's 10 assists tied for fifth, Tiernan's four game-winning goals tied for eighth, and Jimenez's 0.78 goals-against average was good for 11th. Jimenez also tallied the second-most minutes in a single-season for an RU keeper.
The nine-member senior class, which includes Jimenez, Murphy, Prager, Smith, Tiernan, Jenna Seddon, Jessica Puchalski, Allison Ryan, and Jennifer Andresen, is the second in program history to advance to four consecutive NCAA Tournaments, helped the team to three conference finals, and won nearly 60 matches.
"It is a player's responsibility and decision to make sure that a program is better because they were here. And for every one of those seniors that are now leaving the program, Rutgers women's soccer is a better program because they came here," O'Neill said.
"We're going to miss them on the field, off the field, and with everything that they bring to the family and the standard. They are Rutgers through and through. We talk often about forever Rutgers – on the field, off the field, family, the laughter, hard work, all that goes into the total experience of being a part of the Rutgers women's soccer family."
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