Rutgers women's soccer rolls past Fairleigh Dickinson
The Rutgers women's soccer team routed Fairleigh Dickinson by a score of 7-0 on Monday. The victory snapped a two-game winless streak for the Scarlet Knights (2-1-1, 0-0-0) and got them their second victory at Yurcak Field on Busch campus this season.
Rutgers wasted no time getting on the score sheet with a goal from graduate student forward Gia Vicari in just the 3rd minute of play. Junior forward Riley Tiernan set up Vicari with a perfectly placed through ball past the Knights' (0-4, 0-0) defense. The goal was Vicari's first as a Scarlet Knight.
It did not take long for Rutgers to strike again, as senior forward Allison Lowrey scored a goal more than 2 minutes after Vicari did. This time, Vicari assisted on the score, as well as sophomore midfielder Allie Post. The goal marked Lowrey's 3rd goal in four games.
The early onslaught continued when Tiernan made a great move past Fairleigh Dickinson University's goalkeeper and finished with the easy goal. With the score now 3-0 in the 9th minute of play, the Scarlet Knights held a firm grasp of the game.
Rutgers stayed on the offensive after the first 10 minutes, but several offside calls prevented the Scarlet Knights from scoring more goals for most of the first half. Rutgers was called offside eight times in the first half alone as it had to adjust to the Knights high defensive line.
With 2 minutes left to play in the half, freshman forward Ashley Baran added a 4th goal to the Scarlet Knights' tally. Baran's goal was one of the more impressive goals scored on the day, as she dribbled into the box and rocketed a shot with her left foot into the top right corner of the net. The goal was Baran's first collegiate goal of her career.
Heading into halftime, Rutgers held a commanding 4-0 lead over Fairleigh Dickinson University. The Scarlet Knights also took seven more shots as the Knights only registered two shots in the first half.
Rutgers continued creating chances in the second half, and Lowrey scored her second goal of the day more than 11 minutes into the half. Vicari and Tiernan both notched their second assists of the game as their passes set up Lowrey with an open goal and an easy score.
Approximately 3 minutes later, Lowrey secured her hat trick with an excellent header that placed the ball into the top left corner of the net. It was the first hat trick for a Scarlet Knight since 2019.
Junior forward Gia Girman delivered the final blow with a goal in the 89th minute. Rutgers finished with a huge 7-0 victory.
The Scarlet Knights finished with a 20-4 lead in shots and a 12-1 lead in shots on goal. Vicari and Tiernan each tallied 1 goal and two assists. Lowrey finished with a team-high 3 goals. Five different Rutgers players scored in the contest.
"We weren't very happy with how we played in the first few games," Lowrey said. "So we kind of just took a new perspective at it and a different approach and said we have to work harder. There is no one stopping us but ourselves."
The Scarlet Knights are set to face off against Princeton on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Princeton, and the match will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Headed into the rivalry matchup, Rutgers knows it has a lot to play for.
"We're going to be ready for this," Lowrey said.
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