Olympic Sports: Strong start bodes well

Women's Soccer

Maintaining a Top 25 ranking, the No. 24 Scarlet Knights are now 4-0 for the fourth consecutive year.  After going 2-0 at the PSU Invitational, the Scarlet took two shutouts at home.  Th UMass win saw sophomore Colby Ciarrocca step up for the Scarlet Knights, tapping in the game-winner in the 84^th minute in the 1-0 win. Against 'Nova, freshman midfielder Katelyn Walters scored in the 81^st minute, volleying a two-tap ball home off a near corner kick from the top of the 18. The ball sailed to the far post and the Knights improved to 3-0 on Friday evening.  Sophomore Goalie Casey Murphy has nine saves in her four shutout victories.

Results and Upcoming Games

8/28/15	vs. Villanova	Yurcak Field	W, 1-0
8/30/15	vs. Massachusetts	Yurcak Field	W, 1-0
9/03/15	at Princeton	Princeton, N.J.	5:00 p.m. ET
9/06/15	vs. Drexel	Yurcak Field	1:00 p.m. ET

Men's Soccer

Opening at home, the men's team topped Siena 4-2 on Friday.  Jason Wright, last season's leading scorer, picked up where he left off last season, as he put away a pair of goals in the tram's season opening victory.

"I think our mindset and willingness to compete shows that our guys have a much better fight and competitive mentality right now," said head coach Dan Donigan. "Siena is a very tough team, especially up top. We needed to cover and have help all over the field with those guys and over the 90 minutes, we prevailed."

Mitchell Taintor scored on a penalty kick in the game's 11th minute.  Miles Hackett rounded outthe RU scoring with a score off a header.

Results and Upcoming Games

Field Hockey

Field hockey is off to a good start, scoring two wins at home.  Three returning letterwinners scored in the opening victory over the Bucknell Bisons.  Nicole Imbriaco, Rachel Yaney and Ali Stever scored on the day to pace the Scarlet Knights.

"We did a good job creating opportunities," head coach Meredith Civico said. "We finished really strong. The team fought so hard, even when mistakes were made, everybody was recovering and had each other's backs, so that was great to see."

A day later against Ball State, the Knights recorded a shutout.  Rutgers utilized the penalty corners to their advantage, scoring its first three goals right after drawing corners. The first two goal scorers were identical to Friday's game, as for the second straight day Nicole Imbriaco and Rachel Yaney tallied the first two RU goals.

In the second half, another corner resulted in another goal. This time it was Devon Freshnock slamming the ball home, assisted by freshman Linde van Schaik. Late in the game, the freshmen contributions continued as Kelly Hanna scored her first career goal off a deflection.

Rutgers controlled possession for the majority of the game, outshooting Ball State 23-5 and holding an 8-2 edge in corners. Goalkeeper Shevaun Hayes recorded her first shutout of the season.

Results and Upcoming Games

8/28/15	vs. Bucknell	Piscataway	W, 3-1
8/29/15	vs. Ball State	Piscataway	W, 4-0
9/04/15	vs. Virginia	Bauer Track & Field Hockey Complex	3:00 p.m. ET

Volleyball

The Knights split their two meets on the second day of the Santa Clara tournament, losing to host Santa Clara while beating UC Riverside.  In the victory against UC-R, sophomore outside Meme Fletcher led the Scarlet Knights with a total of 43 kills across the three matches, averaging 4.78 kills per set. Junior middle Mikaela Matthews followed with 20 kills of her own, along with a team-best 13 blocks.

Results and Upcoming Games

Santa Clara Invitational
8/28/15	vs. Sacramento State	Santa Clara, Calif.	L, 3-0
8/29/15	at Santa Clara	Santa Clara, Calif.	L, 3-0
	vs. UC Riverside	Santa Clara, Calif.	W, 3-0
Harvard Invitational
9/04/15	at Harvard	Cambridge, Mass.	7:00 p.m. ET
9/05/15	vs. Long Beach State	Cambridge, Mass.	10:00 a.m. ET
	vs. Illinois State	Cambridge, Mass.	4:00 p.m. ET

Women's Cross Country

The Rutgers women's cross country team was ranked 11th in the Preseason Mid-Atlantic Regional Rankings, it was announced on Monday by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

The Scarlet Knights captured the Metropolitan Championship title a year ago and in total had five place in the top 10 and eight members of the squad post top-20 times in the race.

Returning to the roster this fall is senior Paige Senatore, a Mid-Atlantic All-Region honoree and Metropolitan Championship individual champion.