RU Olympic Sports: Soccer on target for post season

Women's Soccer

Kinda says it all, doesn't it!

VICTORY! No. 25 #RFutbol upsets No. 9 Penn State. Colby Ciarrocca scores the GWG (52') in RU's 13th clean sheet. pic.twitter.com/CCgVwrROxQ

— RutgersWomensSoccer (@RUWSoccer) October 18, 2015

It was Senior Day and the team pulled through for those being honored.  Sophomore forward Colby Ciarrocca delivered on the biggest stage of this season, scoring the game-winning goal in the 52nd minute of a Rutgers (12-2-2, 5-2-2 Big Ten) 1-0 shutout against No. 9 Penn State Sunday at Yurcak Field.  It was the fourth consecutive win over the Nittany Lions.

"We talk so much about how we want to be a program that competes for a championship every year and Penn State is the bar," said head coach Mike O'Neill. "It's a good measuring stick for the ladies because they put so much time and effort into what they do. I thought we put a good game plan together, I thought they worked very hard, played good soccer, finished the chance that we needed to finish. I'm just really proud of the effort."

Earlier in the week, freshman defender Adora Moneme sent No. 25 Rutgers women's soccer home with a victory.  Moneme blasted the game-winning goal in the 39^th minute, and sophomore Colby Ciarrocca added another late, and the Scarlet Knights secured a 2-0 win Thursday night against Ohio State at home.

Rutgers is currently tied for fourth place with Michigan, a team they tied earlier in the season.  After Minnesota, the Knights have one game left on the road against 5-10-1 Iowa.

Results and upcoming games

10/15/15	vs. Ohio State *	Yurcak Field	W, 2-0
10/18/15	vs. No. 9 Penn State *	Yurcak Field	W, 1-0
10/23/15	vs. Minnesota *	Yurcak Field	7:00 p.m. ET

Men's Soccer

Senior Drew Morgan was named to College Soccer News' Team of the Week after recording a pair of goals in helping the Rutgers men's soccer team to wins over Penn and Northwestern last week. Both Morgan's goals came off corner kick opportunities and helped the Scarlet Knights extend its win streak to four games, the longest RU win streak since 2011.  In a 2-0 victory over Penn last Tuesday night, Morgan collected the game-winner in the 19th minute heading in a corner on a service from classmate Mitch Lurie. It was his second career game-winning goal. On the other end of the field, Morgan helped the Scarlet Knights to its fourth shutout of the season.

On the pitch, the Knights went 2-0, including a conference win over Northwestern.  The team made it four in a row with a 4-2 victory over the Wildcats Friday night in Illinois.  The Knights established a 3-0 lead before Northwestern scored twice within a five-minute span to drop Rutgers down to a 3-2 edge with just over 21 minutes to play. A minute after the Wildcats sliced their deficit to one, Jason Wright captured his team-leading 11th goal of the season.  Goalkeeper David Greczek came up with five critical saves for Rutgers, including stopping a Wildcat PK in the 20th minute after RU had already generated a 1-0 lead.

Rutgers is currently in third place, ahead of Michigan by virtue of their OT win over the Wolverines.  RU has one more conference game against Maryland to close out the season on Nov. 4.

Results and upcoming games

10/13/15	at Penn	Philadelphia, Pa.	W, 2-0
10/16/15	at Northwestern *	Bridgeview, Ill.	W, 4-2
10/20/15	at Army	West Point, N.Y.	7:00 p.m. ET
10/25/15	vs. Ohio State *	Yurcak Field	1:00 p.m. ET

Volleyball

This is where Rutgers plays volleyball.

This is where No. 9 and B1G third place team Minnesota plays.

And yes, that crowd is there for a volleyball match.  And, yes, I am beating a dead horse, but the Big Ten loves its volleyball.  Eight teams ranked in the Top 25, another receiving votes.  It's a tough place to get a toe hold, let alone win on a regular basis.

10/14/15	at #23 Michigan *	Ann Arbor, Mich.	L, 3-1
10/17/15	at Michigan State *	East Lansing, Mich.	L, 3-0
10/21/15	vs. Maryland *	College Ave. Gym	7:00 p.m. ET
10/24/15	at Maryland *	College Park, Md.	7:00 p.m. ET

Field Hockey

It just ain't fair.  Is this a Top 20 team?  No, but it has played well despite the record.  It took Penn State into OT before losing.  It played tough against No. 7 Maryland.  But scoreboard results haven't been there.  The Knights are 6-9, 0-7 Big East.

Results and upcoming games

10/16/15	vs. Penn State *	Piscataway, N.J.	L, 3-2 (OT)
10/18/15	vs. Maryland *	Piscataway, N.J.	L, 4-0
10/23/15	at American	Washington, D.C.	3:00 p.m. ET

Swimming

The swimming & diving team concluded action Saturday at the Sonny Werblin Invitational, collecting nine individual victories during the second day of action.

"We figured out a few things today for what we need to work on and what we need to do to get better," said head coach Petra Martin. "Everyone put in maximum effort today and we're excited for this week of training and our next meet."

Seniors Morgan Pfaff and Joanna Wu, junior Rachel Stoddard and freshman Cynthia Wu each registered two individual victories during day two.  The Scarlet Knights swept the top-three positions, this time in the 1-meter dive event. Sophomore Addison Walkowiak took top honors, posting a score of 306.52.

Upcoming schedule

10/23/15

vs. Wagner

RU Aquatic Center

4:00 p.m. ET

Women's Cross Country

The women's cross country team placed 11th overall in the 24 team field at the Princeton Invitational on Saturday as two Scarlet Knights finished in the top 20 in the 6K race.

Senior Paige Senatore, who earlier this week was named the Big Ten Runner of the Week, led Rutgers with a sixth place finish. Senatore ran to a time of 21:04.3 and was only six seconds behind first place.  Sophomore Allyson Black took 18th overall after racing to a time of 21:45.7. She bettered her previous best 6K time of 22:06 captured at the Paul Short Invitational back in early October.

Men's Cross Country

The Rutgers men's cross country team finished 11^th Saturday at the Princeton Invitational, completing the race in a time of 25.13.2.  Sophomore Luke Wiley led the way for the Scarlet Knights, completing the race in 43^rd with a time of 25:00.0.  Pennsylvania captured the team title with a time of 24:12.3 in the 21-team event.