Louisville women fall to Rutgers

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Louisville women’s soccer team closed the regular season with a 2-0 loss at Rutgers on Sunday afternoon at Yurcak Field.

With the loss, the Cardinals dropped to 10-8-0 overall and 4-7-0 in BIG EAST Conference games, while Rutgers improved to 10-8-1 on the season and 5-5-1 in league action.

Louisville finished fifth in the BIG EAST National Division and will play at Connecticut, the No. 4 seed from the American Division, on Thursday night in the opening round of the 2010 BIG EAST Championship. The winner of Thursday’s game will advance to a Sunday quarterfinal game at Notre Dame, the No. 1 seed from the National Division.

In Sunday’s game, the two teams played through a scoreless first half before Rutgers opened the scoring in the 61st minute as Tricia DiPaolo took a pass from Gina DeMaio and connected from 15 yards out for the 1-0 advantage. The goal for DiPaolo was her third of the season.
 
Less than three minutes later, the Scarlet Knight added to their lead as April Price took a cross from DiPaolo and headed it into the goal from 17 yards away for the 2-0 lead in the 63rd minute. The goal for Price was her fifth of the season.

Rutgers added to its lead in the 81st minute as Ashley Medcalf took a cross from Ashley Jones and scored her second goal of season for the final 3-0 margin.

Overall, Rutgers finished with an 18-10 advantage in shots, including an 11-4 edge in shots-on-goal. The Scarlet Knights also finished with a 6-3 lead in corner kicks.

Along with the Cardinals’ game at UConn, Thursday’s opening round of the 2010 BIG EAST Women’s Soccer Championship will also feature Pittsburgh (American Division #5) at DePaul (National Division #4) and the event will continue on Sunday with four quarterfinal games at campus sites. The tournament will conclude with the semifinals and final on Nov. 5-7 in Piscataway, N.J.