Women's Soccer leads way with Olympic Sports

Women's Soccer

Scoreless.  That's what opponents have been against the women thus far this season. With its  3-0 victory over Drexel, the Women's Soccer team tied the 1996 squad for the best start in program history.  Against the Dragons on Sunday, the Knights got started early, when junior Erin Smith buried a goal off a deflected shot from sophomore Colby Ciarrocca in the first minute to give RU a 1-0 lead.

From there, Rutgers would dictate the pace of the game. Senior Hayley Katkowski scored her first goal of the season after senior Erica Skrowski's header hit off the left post, giving The Scarlet Knights a 2-0 lead in the 39th minute.

RU added its third and final goal when senior Rachel Cole took a deflection off a defender and found the back of the net in the 76th minute to put Rutgers up, 3-0.

Sophomore goalkeeper Casey Murphy recorded her sixth shutout of the season, adding three saves in the victory.

The Scarlet opened the weekend with a 3-0 win over Princeton last Thursday.  Against the Tigers, RU notched back-to-back goals from seniors Samantha Valliant and Cassie Inacio in the 47th and 48th minute, respectively, and RU ultimately downed the Tigers, 3-0, at Roberts Stadium.

Inacio added another goal for good measure in the 58th minute to complete a two-goal outing, as RU improved to 5-0. Rutgers wraps up its non-conference schedule on Saturday at home against UConn.

Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week

Rutgers women's soccer senior forward Cassie Inacio was named Big Ten Women's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week, earning the first weekly award of her career. Inacio scored twice in the No. 19 Scarlet Knights' 3-0 win against Princeton last Thursday, closing her performance with a nifty header goal in the 58th minute.

"I am very happy for Cassie and the program," said head coach Mike O'Neill. "Cassie worked hard all summer and you can see the hard work paid off in every aspect of her game."

Moving up three spots we have....

#RFutbol (6-0) is up to No. 19 in the @NSCAA Poll as one of just five teams nationally w/ no goals allowed #30Strong pic.twitter.com/uIW4HiEalF

— RutgersWomensSoccer (@RUWSoccer) September 8, 2015

Results and Upcoming Schedule

9/03/15	at Princeton	Princeton, N.J.	W, 3-0
9/06/15	vs. Drexel	Yurcak Field	W, 3-0
9/13/15	vs. UConn	Yurcak Field	1:00 p.m. ET

Men's Soccer

Syracuse denied the Rutgers men's soccer team's chance at it's best start since 1996 as the Orange edged out the Scarlet Knights, 2-1, on Sunday night at the SU Soccer Stadium.

The Scarlet Knights dropped its first game of the 2015 season to fall to 2-1. The Orange, a squad ranked at No. 28 by College Soccer News and receiving votes by both the NSCAA and TopDrawerSoccer, improved to 3-1.  Rutgers took a 1-0 advantage just over a minute into the contest and held the lead until the half. Redshirt senior Mitch Lurie's initial shot bounced off the post, but freshman Brian Hawkins collected the rebound to net his first collegiate goal.

The men open Big Ten play on Friday night at home when they host Wisconsin (0-4).

Results and Upcoming Schedule

9/06/15	at Syracuse	Syracuse, N.Y.	L, 2-1
9/11/15	vs. Wisconsin *	Yurcak Field	7:00 p.m. ET

Field Hockey

No coach wants a loss, but a one-point loss to a Top Ten squad can be something to build on. The Knights battled, but fell to No. 9 Virginia, 5-4 last Friday at home.

"It's disappointing to lose a game where you go out and compete and fight so hard," head coach Meredith Civico said. "I'm really proud of the effort of our team and the way they played. I thought that they stuck to the game plan. We prepared very specifically for this game, and I'm really happy that they implemented a lot of that training today. That's huge as far as us getting better as a team and being able to win matches in the Big Ten."

Four different Knights (2-1) hit the back of the cage as Nicole Imbriaco, Katie Champion, Devon Freshnock, and Sofia Walia each scored. The Knights close out their non-conference schedule this week with two contests at home.

Results and Upcoming Schedule

9/04/15	vs. Virginia	Bauer Track & Field Hockey Complex	L, 5-4
9/09/15	vs. Monmouth N.J.	Bauer Track & Field Hockey Complex	4:00 p.m. ET
9/11/15	vs. Villanova	Bauer Track & Field Hockey Complex	3:00 p.m. ET

Volleyball

After a 1-2 start on the west coast, the Knights lost three at the Harvard Invitational.  Despite the three losses, each match was close in game scoring.  The non-conference schedule continues this weekend at Colgate.

Results and Upcoming Schedule

Harvard Invitational
9/04/15	at Harvard	Cambridge, Mass.	L, 3-0
9/05/15	vs. Long Beach State	Cambridge, Mass.	L, 3-1
	vs. Illinois State	Cambridge, Mass.	L, 3-2
Colgate Classic
9/11/15	at Colgate	Hamilton, N.Y.	7:00 p.m. ET
9/12/15	vs. Albany	Hamilton, N.Y.	10:00 a.m. ET
	vs. Yale	Hamilton, N.Y.	4:30 p.m. ET

Cross Country

The men open their season this Saturday at the Fordham Fiasco in the Bronx, while the women travel down the Parkway to Holmdel Park for the Monmouth Invitational.