Nov. 13, 2009

Courtesy of Rutgers Sports Information

COLUMBIA, S.C. - The No. 12 Rutgers women's soccer team defeated the Duke Blue Devils, 2-0, Friday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Stone Stadium on the campus of the University of South Carolina. Junior Kelsey Dumont (Wrightstown, Pa.) scored her second game-winner in four games to advance the Scarlet Knights to the second round, where they will face the winner of the Davidson/South Carolina at 1 p.m. at on Sunday, Nov. 15.

"I could not be more proud of this group," said head coach Glenn Crooks. "Very few players on the pitch tonight have actually played in a NCAA (Tournament) game and I think we have sustained a number of setbacks in terms of injuries to key players, but that hasn't stopped us a bit. This is a great moment for our program."

The Scarlet Knights went ahead in the 42nd minute on the Dumont goal - her third tally of the season. Sophomore Julie Lancos (Belford, N.J.) booted the ball from 75 yards away into the box. Converted forward junior Rheanne Sleiman (North Vancouver, Canada) corralled the ball, skipping it to Dumont who drilled it into the bottom left of the net past Duke defender Erin Koballa and goalkeeper Tara Campbell. The set-up was Sleiman's third of the season, despite missing 12 games this season.

In the 75th minute, redshirt freshman April Price (Mechanicsville, Va.) added the insurance goal. On a breakaway, redshirt junior Karla Schacher (Tofield, Alberta) chipped the ball over the back line of the Duke defense. Price corralled it and sent it past Campbell to the bottom right corner of the net. The score was her fourth on the season.

Rutgers had multiple chances to add to the score. Redshirt freshman Stefanee Pace (Kearny, N.J.) sent a rocket towards the goal in the 50th minute that the Duke netminder just pushed left. In the 65th minute, Dumont crossed the ball to freshman Maura McLaughlin (West Windsor, N.J.) who sent it just high of the net.

In the 31st minute, Duke's Jane Alukonis blasted a ball from the top of the box towards the net. Senior Becky Wise (West Springfield, Mass.) blocked the ball sending it out of bounds for a corner kick that the Blue Devils could not capitalize on.

Duke's big opportunities came early. In the third minute off a corner kick by Elisabeth Redmond, KayAnne Gummersall took a hard shot towards the left side of the net, but senior Erin Guthrie (Sparta, N.J.) was there, trapping the ball against the post. In the 19th minute, Redmond sent a hard shot that Guthrie corralled for her first save.

Guthriemade five saves on the night, earning her 11th shutout on the season - 43rd clean sheet of her career to extend her position as RU's all-time leader.

Game Notes
*Of the 11 Rutgers starters, just four saw have seen action in an NCAA Tournament game: Erin Guthrie, Ashley Medcalf, Jen Anzivino and Becky Wise.
*Of the six reserves, just Rheanne Sleiman and Kristie Lang saw action in an NCAA game - Sleiman's first action this year since suffering a high ankle sprain on Sept. 18 against Seton Hall.
*Maija Savics earned the first minutes of her career, also taking her first shot.
*Under Glenn Crooks, Rutgers has never lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Scarlet Knights have are 4-0-1 in the opening game and have advanced to at least the second round in each of their NCAA Tournament appearances.
*This was the first time in program history - four meetings - Rutgers has defeated Duke. The Scarlet Knights improve their record against ACC opponents to 19-25-4 all-time.