Rutgers enthusiastic for start to NCAA Tournament
The stage was set for the Rutgers women’s soccer team to claim the Big Ten title at Yurcak Field, but that dream crumbled when Michigan scored the game-winning goal in overtime. The aspiration for that title may be behind the No. 15 Scarlet Knights (15-3-2, 8-2-1), but the NCAA tournament ahead is an even bigger prize.
From the NCAA selection show on Monday, the No. 4 seed Rutgers is headed to the NCAA tournament to face off against Central Connecticut State (CCSU) on Friday at 7 p.m. Luckily for the Knights, they’ll be playing at Yurcak Field against a team that they’ve already beaten this season.
“This group of seniors has done so much for the program,” said sophomore goalkeeper Meagan McClelland. “They’ve really built it up and it’s important to us that we put on a good show for them because it’s their last year, so we want to go as far as we can and work our hardest for them because they’ve done so much for us.”
Rutgers' NCAA bid marks its eighth straight NCAA appearance and its first time in two years that it’ll be hosting the first-round game at home.
The last time the Knights and the Blue Devils (12-4-4, 9-1-1) battled it out on the field was on Aug. 22 at Yurcak Field for Rutgers’ season opener. The Knights won 2-1 in overtime with junior forward Amirah Ali scoring both of Rutgers’ goals off of a penalty kick and an empty net.
Even though the Knights already won against CCSU and have had a tremendous season, fans should not sleep on any team in the tournament.
“I’m excited,” said junior midfielder Gabby Provenzano. “We take one game at a time. We focus on Central Connecticut first and then, I think it’s going to be an exciting week of practice leading up to it and I think we’re all ready for it.”
Scouting Central Connecticut State:
After defeating Fairleigh Dickinson (FDU) 1-0, the Devils are the 2019 Northeast Conference Championship team, marking CCSU’s second straight NEC title. The Devils started their conference season with a 1-0 loss to FDU, but then proceeded to go undefeated for their remaining matches with nine straight wins.
Leading CCSU is Roma McLaughlin with 10 goals and three assists. McLaughlin scored the game-winning goal for the NEC title and also scored the lone goal against Rutgers in August. A trio of Devils follow behind McLaughlin in goals and assists: Allyson O’Rourke (5 goals, four assists), Emily Hogan (4 goals, seven assists) and Erica Bardes (4 goals, eight assists).
CCSU’s goalkeeper Amanda McQuillan holds a .803 save percentage and has recorded five shutouts while in front of the net.
Last year, the Devils lost 3-1 to Georgetown in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The only other time in the past five years that CCSU qualified for the tournament was in 2014 when it lost 6-0 to Harvard.
The Knights aren’t thinking too far ahead, but Rutgers is elated to give its postseason another go.
McClelland put it best: “We’re ready to dance.”
For updates on the Rutgers women's soccer team, follow @TargumSports on Twitter.
