BIG EAST Olympic Page
LONDON – Six women’s soccer standouts with BIG EAST ties earned medals in the 2012 London Olympics, led by Rutgers alum Carli Lloyd ’04, who powered the United States in a 2-1 victory over Japan in the gold medal contest. The 2004 BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year, Lloyd scored in the eighth and 54th minutes.
Lloyd remains RU’s all-time points (117) and goals (50) leader and was the 2008 U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year. She also scored a gamewinner in the 2008 Olympics to give the U.S. a 1-0 win over Brazil.
Notre Dame alum Shannon Boxx (’98) also was a member of the team and earned her third consecutive gold medal to become the first Irish alum with three golds. She started Thursday’s match and played all 90 minutes as the United States won its third consecutive Olympic gold medal.
In the gold medal finale, a crowd of 80,203 – a record for Olympic soccer – packed into Wembley, one of the sport's most iconic venues.
Earlier in the afternoon, a quartet of league players with league ties also earned bronze medals. Preseason All-BIG EAST member and current Rutgers redshirt-junior Jonelle Filigno, along with Melissa Tancredi (Notre Dame ‘04), Candace Chapman (Notre Dame ’05) and former RU assistant coach Karina LeBanc helped lead Canada in a 1-0 victory over France. It was the first medal for the Canadian Women’s National Team in soccer.
