CORAL GABLES, FL – The Rutgers women’s soccer team (10-7-2, 3-2-1 BIG EAST) earned its first-ever victory in the BIG EAST Tournament with a 4-3 triumph at Miami (9-9-1, 4-1-1 BIG EAST) Saturday, Nov. 2, at Cobb Stadium in Coral Gables, FL.

Rutgers, the third seed from the Mid-Atlantic Division, snapped its four-match losing streak in the BIG EAST Tournament with the victory against the Hurricanes, the second seed from the Northeast Division.

RU will play the winner of the West Virginia-St. John’s quarterfinal match in the semifinals Friday, Nov. 8, at 7:00 p.m. in Storrs, CT.

The Scarlet Knights jumped on the scoreboard in the fifth minute when sophomore All-American Carli Lloyd (Delran, NJ) sent a long ball from the left side of the midfield up the right flank. Freshman Kelly Evans (Saddle Brook, NJ) ran onto the ball and scored to the lower left. Three minutes later, the Knights had the same exact play, but this time Evans crossed the ball to a waiting Adrienne Dugandzic (Sicklerville, NJ). Dugandzic knocked the ball in on the goal line to make the score 2-0 in the eighth minute.

RU once again took advantage of the long diagonal ball out of the left midfield as senior Shannon Evans (Saddle Brook, NJ) found freshman Danae Risoli (Hillsborough, NJ) in the 21st minute for RU’s third goal of the half.

Miami struck back in the 60th minute when Anik Huffman scored, then cut the lead to one two minutes later when Andrea Radice beat RU goalkeeper Christine Caldwell (Wyckoff, NJ) 1 v. 1 top shelf.

RU tacked on a late goal in the 85th minute when sophomore Tara Froehlich (Red Bank, NJ) crossed a ball to the middle of the box and Risoli knocked it home to give RU a 4-2 advantage. That goal ended up being critical, because Miami’s Lindsay Yach scored with 1:03 to play to pull the Hurricanes back within a goal.

Caldwell made a season-high nine saves in the victory (8-7-2).

The match was a wild repeat of the two teams’ match-up Oct. 18 in Piscataway, a match that ended in a 6-5 double-overtime victory for the
Knights after Miami led 5-2 with 18:01 to play in regulation.

Rutgers was rated ninth by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) and 10th by Soccerbuzz in the Mid-Atlantic Region this week (Oct. 28).

With her two assists, Lloyd moved into a tie for seventh in career assists (14), a tie for ninth in single-season points (27) and a tie for ninth in
single-season assists (seven). She also is fourth in career goals (25), fifth in career points (64), tied for fifth in career game-winning goals
(seven), sixth in career shots (139) and seventh in single-season shots (66).

Scoring By Periods:
1 2 Final
Rutgers 3 1 4
Miami 0 3 3

Scoring Summary:
4:46 RU Kelly Evans (2) Carli Lloyd (6)
7:24 RU Adrienne Dugandzic (6) Lloyd (7), K. Evans (3)
20:39 RU Danae Risoli (4) Shannon Evans (2)
59:03 UM Anik Huffman Andrea Radice, Jenna Johnson
61:33 UM Radice Vonda Matthews
84:58 RU Risoli (5) Tara Froehlich (1)
88:57 UM Lindsay Yach Radice

Shots: Rutgers 13, Miami 23.
Saves: Rutgers 9, Miami 2.
Corner Kicks: Rutgers 0, Miami 5.
Fouls: Rutgers 16, Miami 13.
Offsides: Rutgers 3, Miami 3.
Yellow Cards: Rutgers 0, Miami 0.