A pair of Big Ten teams will square off in the opening semifinal at the Women’s College Cup in Cary, North, Carolina, on Friday (TV: 5 p.m. ET on ESPNU) as Penn State and Rutgers meet for the thirdtime this season. Something will have to give in the rubber match as neither team has conceded a goal in the NCAA Tournament.
They split the season series as Rutgers tooktheir regular-season meeting in October, 1-0, but Penn State came back to win, 2-0, in the Big Ten Championship match.
Penn State has rolled over its four opponents in the NCAA Tournamentby a margin of 19-0. Costa Rican star Raquel Rodriguez pulls the strings for the Nittany Lions in an attack that features Megan Schafer (13 goals) and Frannie Crouse (10).Mallory Weber led the Bug Ten with 10 assists.
The Scarlet Knights survived a tense shootout against No. 1 seed Virginia — they missed their first two shots and watched asMakenzy Doniak hit the crossbar with a chance to win it for the Cavaliers in the fifth round — to advance to the Women’s College Cup for the first time.
Since it opened the seasonwith eight straight shutouts, defense has carried Rutgers to its best season ever. Its 19 wins surpass the old record of 16 set in 2006. Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year Casey Murphy has been ingoal for every minute as Rutgers led the nation with the lowest goals-against average (0.31) and its 19 shutouts were tied for seventh all-time in NCAA history in a single season.
PROBABLE STARTERS
28 Britt Eckerstrom SR Germantown, Md.
1 Brittany BasingerSO Purcellville, Va.
3 Kaleigh Riehl FR Fairfax Station, Va.
5 Maddie Elliston SO Omaha, Neb.
7 Elizabeth Ball SO Richmond, Va.
10 EmilyOgle SO Strongsville, Ohio
11 Raquel Rodriguez Costa Rica
23 Nickolette Driesse JR Wayne, N.J.
4 Megan Schafer SO Langhorne, Pa.
9 FrannieCrouse SO Greensburg, Pa.
16 Mallory Weber SR Novi, Mich.
KEY RESERVES
12 Charlotte Williams FR Rochester, N.Y.
14 Ellie Jean FR Coventry,Conn.
15 Haleigh Echard SO Lebanon, Pa.
Rutgers:
PROBABLE STARTERS
23 Casey Murphy SOBridgewater, N.J.
3 Erica Skroski SR Galloway, N.J.
22 Brianne Reed SR Tinton Falls, N.J.
9 Kenie Wright FR Mount Laurel, N.J.
15 Erin SmithJR Medford Lakes, N.J.
13 Maggie Morash SR Bernardsville, N.J.
11 Hayley Katkowski SR Westford, Mass.
14 Samantha Valliant SR Markham, Ont.
16 CassieInacio GS Manalapan, N.J.
73 Madison Tiernan JR Voorhees, N.J.
4 Colby Ciarrocca SO Montgomery, N.J.
KEY RESERVES
17 Jennifer Andresen JRWyckoff, N.J.
8 Cassidy Benintente SR Jackson, N.J.
50 Courtney Norton SO Mount Laurel, N.J
36 Tori Prager JR Mount Laurel, N.J.