PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 22 Rutgers women's soccer opens the NCAA Tournament with La Salle for a First Round match on Saturday. Match time is set for 5 p.m. at Yurcak Field.
  
RUTGERS QUICK HITS

• Rutgers (12-2-5, 6-2-3 Big Ten) qualified for its sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament, also marking the Scarlet Knights' eighth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last 10 years and the 12th time in program history.
• The Scarlet Knights enter NCAAs with a nation-best 0.247 GAA, while also ranked second in team shutout percentage (0.798) with 15 clean sheets in 19 contests.
• Redshirt junior Casey Murphy, the 2017 Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year, leads the conference and is second in the nation in shutouts (15), GAA (0.247) and save percentage (.929).
• Forward Amirah Ali was named the 2017 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, posting five goals and four assists in her collegiate debut. She was also named Big Ten All-Freshman.
• Murphy (First Team) and Ali (Third Team) were named All-Big Ten, while sophomore defender Chantelle Swaby (Second Team) also joined the players of the year with All-Conference honors.
• RU is ranked in all three major polls, including No. 21 by Soccer America, No. 23 by TopDrawerSoccer.com. The Scarlet Knights sit at No. 11 in the NCAA Women's Soccer RPI.

SCOUTING LA SALLE

• La Salle (17-3-2, 9-0-1 A10) captured the Atlantic 10 Championship, defeating VCU, 1-0, in double overtime to earn the league's automatic bid. It marked the third conference title for the program.
• The bid is the Explorers' fifth NCAA Tournament berth since 2011.
• Seven Explorers earned postseason recognition as Madison Bower, Kristin Haugstad and Paige McDowell all earned All-A10 First Team honors.
• Maci Bower and Taylor Newhart were named Second Team All-Conference, while freshmen Amirah Louketis and Jenna Soriano collected All-Rookie recognition.
• Madison Bower led the league with 25 points, including nine goals and seven assists.
• In net, Larisa Zambelli maintains a 0.64 GAA across 22 contests, including 11 shutouts and 95 saves.
• Head Coach Paul Royal was named the Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year after guiding the team to its fourth regular season title during his tenure.

SERIES VS. THE EXPLORERS

• Rutgers and La Salle have met on the pitch nine times, as the Scarlet Knights own an 8-0-1 record in the all-time series.
• The teams most recently met in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament in 2014, when RU claimed a 2-0 victory at home.

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