Rutgers women's soccer ends 2024 season with 1st round NCAA Tournament defeat to UConn
It was a 90-minute battle, but the Rutgers women’s soccer team narrowly fell 2-1 to UConn in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night. The Scarlet Knights (11-5-5, 6-2-3) ended their season with back-to-back defeats and could not muster up a second-half comeback against the Huskies (14-4-4, 4-3-3).
The game started even, with both sides having a fair share of possession. Freshman midfielder Shaela Bradley forced UConn goalkeeper Kaitlyn Mahoney into two early saves on straightforward shots.
Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Olivia Bodmer was called into her first save in the 25th minute off a Maddie Fried header.
Despite the game being fairly level, the Huskies struck ahead in the 31st minute. Off a Rutgers turnover, Chioma Okafor - UConn’s leading goal scorer - had a breakaway and dribbled past Bodmer, slotting the ball into the open net for her 13th goal of the season.
Things went from bad to worse for the Knights, as the Huskies made it 2-0 about 7 minutes later. Off a corner kick, Joyce Ryder’s cross found the head of Lucy Cappadona, who directed the ball into the top left corner of the net, her 5th goal of this campaign.
Rutgers were outshooting UConn 7-6 with five shots on target, but Mahoney saved all of those attempts.
The Knights seemed to have lost any of their remaining momentum in the second half. Rutgers had more possession but struggled to create chances and lacked the much-needed touch in the final third of the Huskies’ box.
Senior midfielder Kylie Daigle – making her first start of the season – was a key piece in the Knights’ midfield, registering several shots.
But in the 70th minute, Rutgers finally scored its 1st goal of the game. Redshirt freshman forward Reilly McGlinn passed to Bradley, who played a pass into the box to sophomore forward Alyssa Martinez. Martinez stuck her foot out and tapped the ball past Mahoney and into the back of the net for her 1st career goal.
The Knights now had all the momentum they needed to pull off the comeback, but ultimately, they were unable to make it a 2-2 game.
It was the second straight season that Rutgers lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. It was also the last career game for Daigle, senior defenders Emily Mason and Kassidy Banks, senior forwards Gia Girman and Riley Tiernan and graduate student defender and midfielder Sydney Urban.
“Seniors come, it will be sad to see them leave,” said head coach Mike O’Neill. “Programs are supposed to be better while the time you’re here, you have to leave it in a better place, and that’s what our seniors did.”
Tiernan ended her career as a Knight with a program-leading 34 assists and 72 career points, sixth-most in Rutgers history.
With a young roster, the Knights will now look ahead to the 2025 season.
“I thought we started strong and then we kind of faded a little bit towards the end of the first half,” O’Neill said. “Obviously the goal inspired us and for us, just a bit more awareness and execution would’ve been better.”
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