With the regular season coming to an end, the women's soccer team will take the field one more time as they host Rutgers on Friday.
The Pirates have already been eliminated from postseason play with a 7-11 record and 2-8 in the Big East, but the Scar- let Knights come into the match needing one point to clinch a spot in the Big East Championship.
"I think our kids are going to put it all out," head coach Kazbek Tambi said. "Yes we are disappointed we are not going to the playoffs but at the end of the day Rutgers is a traditional rival and it's a game that counts."
The Pirates are heading into the match against the Scarlet Knights coming off of a 3-0 loss to Louisville on Sunday, but snapped a six-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory over Cincinnati on Friday.
Sunday's loss to Louisville was just the third time all season that the Hall lost a match at Owen T. Carroll Field in nine tries.
"We love playing at home," junior Ashley Clarke said. "It's a great atmosphere playing in front of our fans. Hopefully we get a good turnout."
Rutgers comes into the match unbeaten in their last four matches, including 3-0 and 5-0 wins over Lousiville and Cincinnati last weekend.
Leading the Scarlet Knights attack is junior Jonelle Filigno. Filigno scored four goals and added an assist in her team's last two games to earn Big East Player of the Week honors. For the season she ranks second in the conference with 14 goals and 31 points.
"(Filigno) has been a big part of their success and she's a handful," Tambi said. "Going to do the best we can to keep an eye on her at all times especially when they have the ball, to deny her the ball. Everyone is going to have to chip in."
Despite Filigno's numbers, Rutgers ranks in the middle of the Big East with 1.5 goals per game but their defense ranks fourth with only .8 goals allowed a game.
Their defense could cause some problems for the Pirates attack as they average 1.06 goals a game.
If the Hall does get past the Scarlet Knights attack it will most likely be with the help of Clarke who is currently tied with Kelly Smith for the single season assists record with eight.
"It's an honor," Clarke said of sharing the record. "It really means a lot to tie Kelly Smith's record; she is like a role model to a lot of us in the program for what she was able to do here."
The game against Rutgers is Clarke's chance to break the re- cord set in 1998-99, but she sees an opportunity to do more than that.
"Hopefully we can get the win against Rutgers and knock them out of the tournament," Clarke said.
The game against the Scarlet Knights is scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m. Friday night at Owen T. Carroll Field.
Stephen Valenti can be reached at Stephen.Valenti@stu- dent.shu.edu
