Sports Shorts

Rutgers sophomore Justin Pennington was named the ECAC Co-Offensive Player of the Week on Monday after the midfielder tallied a career-high five goals against Delaware on Saturday, March 1.

Pennington is the third Scarlet Knight to garner a weekly award fromthe conference as sophomore Billy Olin and freshman Kory Kelly took home Co-Defensive Player of the week and Co- Rookie of the Week honors, respectively, last Monday.

Pennington also added an assist, scooped four groundballs and caused a turnover in a 10-8 loss to No. 9/10 Delaware.

No. 18/18 Rutgers (1-1) will be back in action on Saturday, March 8 as they host No. 20 Fairfield in the ECAC opener for both teams. The top-20 battle is slated to begin at 1 p.m. at the RU Turf Field.

Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer chronicles her personal triumphs and tragedies in "STANDING TALL: A Memoir of Tragedy and Triumph," which went on sale nationwide Tuesday.

Stringer - the oldest of six children - grew up a coal-miner's daughter in the tiny town of Edenborn, Pa. She chose the path of college basketball, rising to the top of her game.

She was the first coach - male or female - to take three different programs to the Final Four. Her leadership and drive took Cheyney State to the first-ever NCAA championship in 1982. She followed with a visit to the Final Four in 1993 while at Iowa and at Rutgers in 2000 and 2007.

Stringer has battled back from tragedy, a toddler daughter stricken with meningitis, widowed in her early 40s when her college sweetheart died suddenly and aiding a son as he coped after a horrific car accident.

Last week, Stringer, in her 37th season of coaching overall and 13th at Rutgers, became just the third women's coach to win 800 games.

Stringer is expected to be featured on Forbes.com, the "Gayle King Show" and on HBO "Real Sports."

The Rutgers women's lacrosse team will take on non-conference opponent Cornell on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the RU Turf Field. The Scarlet Knights are coming off a heartbreaking 7-6 loss at Delaware last Thursday afternoon, dropping them to 0-2 on the season. Cornell defeated Colgate 16-7 on Feb. 27 at home, its first game of the year.

The Scarlet Knights have been led by sophomores Mary Cryan and Brooke Cantwell, who have three goals apiece. Cantwell and sophomore Meghan Flanagan lead the team in points with four each. Flanagan leads the team with two assists. In its first game of the season, Cornell received a combined six goals from two of its senior leaders, Courtney Farrell and Noelle Dowd. Farrell also had three assists in the win.

The Scarlet Knights 2008 schedule is ranked the toughest by Laxpower. RU's opponents this season include six teams ranked in the most recent Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) poll: Northwestern (No. 1), Syracuse (No. 4), Princeton (No. 7), Georgetown (No. 9), Notre Dame (No. 10) and Denver (No. 15). After Sunday's game against Cornell, RU will travel to Princeton to take on the Tigers onWednesday at 7 p.m.