No. 9 Rutgers women's soccer defeats Michigan State, clinches share of Big Ten title
The Rutgers women’s soccer team defeated Michigan State this Sunday 1-0 on Yurcak Field, extending its undefeated Big Ten streak to 10 matches.
With this win, the No. 9 Scarlet Knights (13-2-0, 8-0-0) have clinched a share of the 2021 Big Ten Women's Soccer title. Rutgers will have a chance to play for the outright title later this week.
The Knights now have nine wins in a row, beating their previous record from 2015 when the program recorded eight consecutive wins to start their season. They were also the first in program history to compete in the College Cup.
Rutgers started off the match strong, recording 10 shots in the first half alone compared to the Spartans’ (9-3-3, 4-3-1) single shot. The Knights did not let up on shots the whole game, recording 33 total shots by the end of the match, their highest shot count this season.
Rutgers came close to notching their 1st goal when senior forward Amirah Ali took a shot that bounced off the crossbar in the 52nd minute, but it was sophomore forward Allison Lowrey who scored the Knights’ 1st and only goal. The shot came off a short corner kick pass from freshman forward Riley Tiernan, putting Rutgers up 1-0.
Lowrey posted the 4th goal of her 12-point season while Tiernan recorded her 10th assist of the season. Tiernan leads the conference in assists.
Michigan State recorded its lowest shot count of the season with only four shots, none of which were on target. As a result, the Knights’ senior keeper Meagan McClelland had an uneventful match with zero saves thanks to a barricade of Rutgers defenders.
The Knights will travel to Bloomington, Indiana, at 7 p.m. this Thursday to face Indiana. The match will be streamed on Big Ten Network+. Live stats will be provided at kickoff. A win or tie in the game against the Hoosiers (9-3-4, 3-2-3) would give Rutgers the lone share of the Big Ten title.
Editor's Note: A previous version of this article stated Rutgers defeated Maryland in the headline.
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