Rutgers women's soccer gets by Illinois, snaps 2-game losing streak
The Rutgers women's soccer team earned a bounce-back 2-1 win against Illinois on Sunday afternoon. The Scarlet Knights (10-3-3, 6-2-2) came into the match on a two-game losing streak for the first time since September 2023.
The Fighting Illini (7-8-2, 3-6-1) responded shortly after Rutgers opened the scoring, but the latter's stout defense was enough to claim the 1-goal win.
Illinois dominated the opening minutes of the first half. But in the 23rd minute, senior forward Riley Tiernan stole the ball from a Fighting Illini defender and dribbled it into the box, getting past goalkeeper Izzy Lee to tap the ball into the back of the net.
Illinois responded within 3 minutes off a perfectly placed free kick at the top of the box from Sarah Foley. The set piece was hit into the top right corner past redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Olivia Bodmer for Foley's 10th goal of the season.
Six minutes later, Tiernan picked up the ball at the side of the box and crossed it into the far post, where freshman midfielder Shaela Bradley one-timed the ball past Lee for the go-ahead goal.
The Fighting Illini dominated the second half. They outshot the Knights 8-3 and had five corners to the latter's none. Still, Rutgers did enough defensively to earn its 10th win of the season.
"We went through a rough spot recently these past two games," said sophomore midfielder Patricia Tsokos. "We just recollected ourselves, we came together, we found the issue in what was going on. I think we came together really well, and we felt the pressure, but we adapted to it, and we came out with the win."
Tiernan had 1 goal and one assist in the win, her sixth career game with at least a goal and an assist. She now has 69 career points, tied for the sixth-most in program history. Tiernan's 31 career assists make her tied for the 10th-most all-time in the Big Ten.
With one more game before the Big Ten Tournament, the Knights are looking to secure their position at home on Yurcak Field on Busch campus against Maryland on Sunday. The game will kick off at 1 p.m. and will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus and 88.7 WRSU-FM.
"Now, we need to build confidence," said head coach Mike O'Neill. "We need to make sure we ... get a bit of a rest because we've got some tired people, and then we'll figure out how to get better."
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