
No. 22 Women’s Soccer Opens NCAA Tournament with La Salle
Nov 09 | Women's Soccer
Match set for 5 p.m. Saturday at Yurcak Field
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 22 Rutgers women's soccer opens the NCAA Tournament with La Salle for a First Round match on Saturday. Match time is set for 5 p.m. at Yurcak Field.
RUTGERS QUICK HITS
RUTGERS QUICK HITS
- Rutgers (12-2-5, 6-2-3 Big Ten) qualified for its sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament, also marking the Scarlet Knights' eighth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last 10 years and the 12th time in program history.
- The Scarlet Knights enter NCAAs with a nation-best 0.247 GAA, while also ranked second in team shutout percentage (0.798) with 15 clean sheets in 19 contests.
- Redshirt junior Casey Murphy, the 2017 Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year, leads the conference and is second in the nation in shutouts (15), GAA (0.247) and save percentage (.929).
- Forward Amirah Ali was named the 2017 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, posting five goals and four assists in her collegiate debut. She was also named Big Ten All-Freshman.
- Murphy (First Team) and Ali (Third Team) were named All-Big Ten, while sophomore defender Chantelle Swaby (Second Team) also joined the players of the year with All-Conference honors.
- RU is ranked in all three major polls, including No. 21 by Soccer America, No. 23 by TopDrawerSoccer.com. The Scarlet Knights sit at No. 11 in the NCAA Women's Soccer RPI.
- La Salle (17-3-2, 9-0-1 A10) captured the Atlantic 10 Championship, defeating VCU, 1-0, in double overtime to earn the league's automatic bid. It marked the third conference title for the program.
- The bid is the Explorers' fifth NCAA Tournament berth since 2011.
- Seven Explorers earned postseason recognition as Madison Bower, Kristin Haugstad and Paige McDowell all earned All-A10 First Team honors.
- Maci Bower and Taylor Newhart were named Second Team All-Conference, while freshmen Amirah Louketis and Jenna Soriano collected All-Rookie recognition.
- Madison Bower led the league with 25 points, including nine goals and seven assists.
- In net, Larisa Zambelli maintains a 0.64 GAA across 22 contests, including 11 shutouts and 95 saves.
- Head Coach Paul Royal was named the Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year after guiding the team to its fourth regular season title during his tenure.
- Rutgers and La Salle have met on the pitch nine times, as the Scarlet Knights own an 8-0-1 record in the all-time series.
- The teams most recently met in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament in 2014, when RU claimed a 2-0 victory at home.
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