MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 7-ranked and second-seeded West Virginia University women's soccer team continues play in the 2017 NCAA Tournament against No. 22-ranked Rutgers on Friday, Nov. 17, at 7 p.m., at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
 
The match will be streamed for free at WVUsports.com. A link for live stats also is available at WVUsports.com. 
 
Friday's match is the second of two contests set for Friday evening, as No. 10-ranked and third-seeded Penn State will kick against No. 24-ranked Wake Forest at 4 p.m. Friday's winners will meet in the third round on Sunday, Nov. 19, at 5 p.m., at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
 
Tickets for the second-round matches are on sale now at WVUGAME.com. Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for students and $3 for youth. WVU students will be admitted for free with a valid WVU student I.D.
 
To provide a safer environment for Mountaineer fans and to expedite entry into all ticketed WVU athletic events, the West Virginia Department of Intercollegiate Athletics enforces the NFL's Clear Bag Policy. The athletic department invites and encourages fans to visit WVUsports.com/clearbag for more information, to view pictures of permissible and non-permissible items and to obtain answers to frequently asked questions about the clear bag policy.
 
The Mountaineers' (16-3-2, 7-1-1) second-round appearance is the program's third in as many seasons and 12th since 2002. WVU is 5-6 in second-round matches and 14-6-3 in all-time NCAA Tournament matches in Morgantown.
 
Last year, WVU advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament following a 1-0 (2OT) victory against Ohio State on Nov. 18, in front of 2,471 fans at Dick Dlesk Stadium. Forward Michaela Abam scored the golden goal in the 104th minute.
 
"As I always say, Mountaineer Nation provides an electric atmosphere and makes Dick Dlesk Stadium one of the hardest venues in which to play. We really will need everyone to come out Friday night, just like they did last year, and push us into that Sunday match," Mountaineer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. "Rutgers is a hard, physical team with one of the best goalkeepers and defenses in the country. We're really going to have to be a special team to take care of business Friday night."
 
Former foes in the Big East Conference, WVU is 11-4-2 all-time against the Scarlet Knights (13-2-5, 6-2-3 Big Ten). The teams last met in 2013 and played to a 0-0 (2OT) draw in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Nov. 16, at Dick Dlesk Stadium. WVU edged RU in penalty kicks, 3-0, to advance to the second round.
 
Entering Friday night, the Mountaineers rank No. 50 nationally with a 1.86 goals/game average. WVU has tallied two or more goals in six of its last eight matches, including a three-goal performance in a 3-0 victory over Bucknell in the first round of the tournament on Nov. 11.
 
Abam paces the squad with 23 points on a team-best 10 goals and three assists. She tallied a pair of goals against the Bison, including the game-winner in the 16th minute, her team-best fourth game-winning goal of the season. The Houston native ranks No. 3 in program history with 42 career goals and No. 4 with 100 career points.
 
The Mountaineer backline denied the Bison a shot, the second opponent this season to not earn a chance against WVU. Sophomore Rylee Foster played all 90 minutes in net and registered the team's 12th clean sheet of the year. WVU ranks No. 22 nationally with a 0.600 goals-against average (GAA); Foster shows a .562 GAA and ranks No. 19. WVU also ranks No. 20 nationally with a 0.571 shutout percentage.
 
Rutgers defeated La Salle 3-1 on Nov. 11 to earn a spot in the second round. Three different Scarlet Knights tallied goals, and senior forward Colby Ciarrocca dished out a career-best two helpers. Junior Casey Murphy made two saves.
 
Ciarrocca and freshman Amirah Ali, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, pace RU with 17 points each on six goals and five assists. Murphy, the Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year, ranks No. 2 in the NCAA in shutouts (15) and No. 3 in GAA (0.238) and save percentage (.918). The Scarlet Knights have allowed six goals all season.