Rutgers women’s soccer shuts out Drexel
The Rutgers women’s soccer team recorded its seventh win of the season against Drexel at Yurcak Field yesterday.
The No. 16 Scarlet Knights (7-2-0, 0-0-0) won 4-0 against the Dragons (4-2-1, 0-0-0) in their sixth shutout of the season. This game also marks head women’s soccer coach Mike O’Neill’s 100th win of his career, all won here at Rutgers.
The scoring tonight started early with senior midfielder Frankie Tagliaferri scoring off an assist from senior forward Amirah Ali. Ali later scored in the 53rd minute with an assist from sophomore midfielder Sam Kroeger.
Just 4 minutes later, Tagliaferri scored her second goal of the game after a blocked shot from Ali fell into her path. Both Ali and sophomore midfielder Sara Brocious recorded an assist for the goal. Late in the final half, sophomore forward Emily Sapienza also found the back of the net with an assist from sophomore forward Allison Lowrey.
The Knights collected a shutout even with the Dragons putting up 10 shots this game. Junior goalkeeper Megan McClelland stopped all shots on goal, making this her fourth clean sheet of the season. Drexel’s goalkeeper Miyuki Schoyen was unable to stop the barrage of shots on net from Rutgers' offense saving 7 of the 11 shots on target from the Knights.
Ali has added four points to her 10-point season after contributing to 3 of the 4 goals scored tonight. Tagliaferri is still the leading goal scorer for Rutgers as well as the Big Ten with 7. Sapienza also added two points to her seven-point season here as a Knight. At the same time, Kroger notched her first assist of the season following tonight’s game.
The win tonight concludes non-conference play for Rutgers. They will face Penn State, Michigan and Nebraska — some challenging opponents for a well-equipped side of the Knights, who still lead in assists, goals and points in the conference.
Rutgers' next opponent in the Nittany Lions (6-1-0, 0-0-0) is coming off a two-game win streak and has some players to watch out for, including Payton Linnehan who has 15 points this season and leads her team in assists and goals, as well as Sam Coffey, who ties in assists.
The Knights will host Penn State this Sunday at noon on Yurcak Field. This match will be Rutgers' first nationally televised game.
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