Rutgers women's soccer falls short in close road contest against UMass
The Rutgers women's soccer team suffered its first loss of the season, falling 1-0 to UMass on Sunday afternoon. The Scarlet Knights (1-1-1, 0-0) could not score despite dominating in shots and shots on goal. The Minutewomen (1-2-0) made the breakthrough late in the second half of the contest to earn their first win of the season.
Sophomore forward Ashley Baran had the first dangerous opportunity at the 15-minute mark after dribbling into the box from the right side and striking the ball from a difficult angle into the keeper’s hands.
The best chance of the half came in the 34th minute when senior forward Riley Tiernan took a shot from the right of the penalty mark that went just left of the far post.
In the first half, Rutgers was solid defensively, holding UMass to zero shots thanks to the center-back duo of senior defenders Kassidy Banks and Emily Mason, who were both dubbed Big Ten Players to watch ahead of the season.
The second half started with some drama. Senior forward Gia Girman and Ashley Lamond were sent off after a fight, leaving both teams with ten players for the remainder of the game.
Junior midfielder and substitute Allie Post looked to have a golden opportunity after a cross in the 70th minute found her head inside the six-yard box, but her effort sailed over the crossbar.
Approximately 10 minutes later, the Minutewomen took the lead through Bella Recinos, as her powerful left-footed shot from just inside the box deflected off a defender and went into the top left corner, past redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Olivia Bodmer. It was the first and only shot of the game for UMass, but was enough to give the Minutewomen their 11th-ever win over the Knights.
Rutgers had the advantage in shots (12) and corners (10), but once again could not find a way to finish its chances and ultimately lacked the final touch.
The Knights will look to get back to winning ways when they return home to face Lehigh on Wednesday. The game will kick off at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus and 88.7 WRSU-FM.
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