#22 Rutgers Women’s Soccer Tops #21 Northwestern 2-0

On Friday the Rutgers Women’s Soccer Team took on #21 Northwestern to open up their stretch of division play. The Scarlet Knights (7-1-1) were able to keep Northwestern scoreless for the first time on their season. Northwestern (9-1) was also handed their first loss on the season by Rutgers.

In the first half, the Scarlet Knights were able to get on the board first when senior Erica Murphy scored with a beautiful set up from freshman Taylor Aylmer. Northwestern had only three shots on goal throughout the entire game, which was the lowest of any opponent all year. Goalkeeper Alana Jimenez was credited with her 6th shutout of the season. Rutgers added the second goal in the second half, when Junior Colby Ciarrocca scored in the 65th minute to lead the Scarlet Knights to the win.

This was the second win of the season over a ranked opponent for RU. Rutgers will continue on their home game streak this Sunday when they take on Illinois at Yurcak Field at 1 pm. After having dropped to #24 in the ranking, RU has risen back to #22. They hope to continue their winning streak and move up even further in next week's National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) rankings.

Following the game coach Mike O’Neil spoke with ScarletKnights.com and said this about the game “Every game we get better and better, and you can see that we took another step forward today.” The game against Illinois can be seen on BTN plus.