PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The No. 16 Rutgers women's soccer team rallied six goals in the first half of the game en route to a 7-0 victory over Mount St. Mary's on Thursday night at Yurcak Field. Sophomore midfielder
Nicole Whitley and freshman forward
Amirah Ali each posted two goals in the contest, while redshirt junior goalkeeper
Casey Murphy picked up her fourth shutout of the season.
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"Our discipline in the back has been spot on," said
Casey Murphy. "We work on it in practice and those details translate into the game. And definitely, a lot of credit to our offense, they have been really dangerous in the attack."
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Sophomores
Brittany LaPlant, Carina Hendley, and
Brianna Starr each contributed a goal as well, while six different Scarlet Knights added assists in the win.
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Whitley got the Scarlet Knight offense rolling early with a goal in the fourth minute of the contest, scoring from the far corner of the 18-yard box after a rebounded clear attempt.
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Ali knocked in a header in the 17
th minute off a beautiful cross from
Kenie Wright. No more than three minutes later Ali added her second of the game, as senior forward
Colby Ciarrocca made a pass to an open Ali eight yards out for a shot to the right side.
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Nearly a minute after, Whitley joined in to the multi-goal column with a successful shot from 36 yards out to the upper right 90. Freshman
Alaysia Lane was on the assist to help set the RU lead at 4-0.
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Rutgers would go on to add back-to-back goals from
Brittany LaPlant and
Carina Hendley in the 37
th minute to push its lead to 6-0 heading into halftime. Sophmore
Jenna Sayers and freshman
Ciara Terabasso assisted each of those goals, respectively.
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The Scarlet Knights tacked on one more goal in the second half as Starr posted the first goal of her career.
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Murphy held strong in the net to record her fourth straight shutout of the season, registering two diving saves along the way.
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Rutgers wraps up a five-game homestand with Drexel on Sunday, Sept. 3. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Yurcak Field.
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KNIGHT NOTES
- Rutgers has posted four shutouts in as many games this season.
- The Scarlet Knights posted the most goals in a contest since 1998, when RU topped St. Bonaventure, 7-1.
- All of RU's goals in the game were scored by underclassmen, as 13 of RU's 16 total goals this season have been scored by a mix of freshmen and sophomores.
- Casey Murphy registered the 33rd shutout of her career and is one shutout away from moving into a tie for second on Rutgers career records list.
- Amirah Ali brought her goal total to four in her first four games a Scarlet Knight, leading the team with eight total points.
- Nicole Whitley added a career-high two goals in the contest and is now tied for second on the team with seven points (2g, 3a).
- The Scarlet Knights competed in their first night game of the season against the Mountaineers.
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