Rutgers women's soccer extends winning streak, shutout streak to 6 against Washington
It wasn't easy, but the Rutgers women's soccer team picked up its sixth straight win after defeating Washington 1-0 on Sunday afternoon. The Scarlet Knights (7-1-1, 3-0-0) are now 3-0 in conference play for the second time since 2014.
Rutgers started the game fast, scoring in the 4th minute. The ball was taken from the Huskies (4-3-2, 1-2-0) by the Knights, with senior defender Emily Mason playing a long ball up the pitch to senior forward Riley Tiernan, who scored off a left-footed shot that went into the top left corner of the net.
With the momentum, Rutgers looked to add a 2nd goal in the 10th minute, but sophomore forward Ashley Baran placed her shot right at Washington goalkeeper Olivia Juarez.
The Knights did not attempt any shots for the remainder of the half and were forced to defend. The Huskies pushed for the equalizer, but redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Olivia Bodmer made saves to preserve the lead.
That same tempo continued in the second half.
Freshman midfielder Shaela Bradley was inches away from getting the crowd cheering at Yurcak Field on Busch campus as she did well to dribble past a Washington defender and took a curling shot from outside of the box, which rattled off the left post.
From there, Rutgers sat back and defended its 1-goal lead, calling on senior defender Kassidy Banks and Mason to make tackles and win the ball back.
That defensive game plan worked, and the Knights earned their sixth straight shutout, making it 550 minutes since an opponent has scored on them. Bodmer finished the game with three saves and preached that it's always a team effort to win games.
"We defend as a team — we play as a team," she said. "All 31 of us — even if you're not going on the field, you're helping us succeed, and we're just doing what we can as a team."
When asked about how important her backline is in front of her, Bodmer said, "I can't thank them enough — they're the best backline I could ask for. They really instill a lot of confidence in not just me (but) the whole team."
Rutgers will now begin a three-game road stretch, starting with a match against Michigan on Thursday. The game will begin at 8 p.m. and be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
"Every game is going to be a battle," said head coach Mike O'Neill. "But you learn a lot from these games because we try to figure out all the time how to get better. It starts in training, and then we get a chance to apply what we learned in training in a game, and you have the opportunity to grow. And from today's match, we grew again."
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