Women's Soccer | November 13, 2014
PHILADELPHIA- The La Salle women's soccer team is set to make its fourth consecutive NCAA appearance on Friday night when they visit the No. 25/21 Rutgers Scarlet Knights at RU's Yurcak Field at 7 p.m.
La Salle Explorers (14-5-2; 8-0 A-10) at Rutgers Scarlet Knights (12-5-1; 8-4-1 Big Ten)
Friday, November 14, 2014 | 7 PM | Yurcak Field – Piscataway, N.J. | NCAA – First RoundLive Statistics |
Live Tweets @ExplorerGameDayScouting the ExplorersThe Explorers received an at-large bid to this year's tournament after narrowly missing a third straight Atlantic 10 tournament title, falling 2-1 to Dayton in Sunday's championship game. The Blue and Gold completed an undefeated run (8-0) through conference play before dispelling Massachusetts and George Washington in the first two rounds of the conference tournament.
Kelsey Haycook,
Jessika Kagan,
Maryam Huseini and
Kerri Aiken were all named to the All-Championship team for the Explorers. Huseini tallied a goal and an assist in the opening round win over UMass while Kagan had a goal and three assists in La Salle's first two games.
Haycook, the Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year, netted her 20
th goal of the year in Sunday's final. The Point Pleasant, N.J. native is tied for the third in the nation in total goals this season and second in the country with eight game-winning goals.
Huseini earned an A-10 First Team nod for the second straight season after the midfielder piled up 12 assists to become La Salle's all-time leader with 38 career assists.
Aiken, this season's Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year, headlines a backline that allowed 1.14 goals per game this year and a league-low three goals in A-10 play this season.
Paige McDowell was another force on La Salle's backline, earning a spot on the A-10 First Team and All-Rookie squad.
La Salle goalkeeper
Jessica Wiggins was another All-Conference First Team selection for the Explorers after leading the league in saves (95) and recording a 0.38 goals against average in league play.
Scouting the Scarlet KnightsThe Rutgers women's soccer team is playing in a third straight NCAA Tournament and its fifth in the last seven years. The Scarlet Knights are ranked by the NSCAA (No. 25), Soccer America (No. 21) and TopDrawerSoccer.com (No. 23) for the sixth consecutive week.
Head coach Mike O'Neill's squad is coming off a 1-0 loss to Iowa in the quarterfinal of the Big Ten tournament on Wednesday.
Defense has been a strong suit for the Scarlet Knights this season as they rank 10th in the nation in GAA (0.55), 18th in save percentage (.855) and 17th in shutout percentage (.560).
Anchoring the backline is freshman goalkeeper Casey Murphy, who ranks in the top three in the Big Ten in in GAA (0.52), shutouts (nine) and save percentage (.848).
Madison Tiernan and Stefanie Scholz have both scored six goals this season to pace and RU attack that has seen 11 different Scarlet Knights find pay dirt in 2014. Scholz has notched four game-winning goals this year, which is tied for third in the Big Ten.
La Salle will play Rutgers (12-5-1, 8-4-1 Big Ten) for the first time since 2001, and the Scarlet Knights hold a 7-0-1 advantage in the all-time series.
