PISCATAWAY, NJ - The Rutgers women's soccer team (7-3-3) fought back from a two-goal deficit to tie No. 23 Princeton (6-1-2) 2-2 in double overtime Oct. 7 at Yurcak Field.

Rutgers seemingly took a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute when redshirt sophomore Christine Wentzler (Northvale, NJ) punched in a rebound, but the Scarlet Knights were called offsides. RU again came close to taking a 1-0 lead when senior Adrienne Dugandzic (Sicklerville, NJ) shook loose on the left side later in the first half, but her shot sailed high.

Princeton had just two scoring chances in the first half, but the Tigers took advantage of both. After allowing just one goal in almost 740 minutes, Princeton scored twice on the Rutgers defense in a two-minute span. Rochelle Willis cut the angle from the right side of the penalty area, bending a ball inside the far post in the 41st minute. Then, less than two minutes later, Emily Behncke sent a shot towards the goal from 25 yards out in the middle of the field, and the seemingly harmless ball ended up inside the right post.

Freshman Kim Mineo (Glen Rock, NJ) was dragged down just outside the Princeton box in the 55th minute, setting up a free kick. Junior All-American Carli Lloyd (Delran, NJ) took advantage, bending the ball around the wall and into the net to cut the Tiger lead to 2-1. Lloyd then evened up the match in the 83rd minute, tucking a ball under the crossbar from 25 yards out.

"We were down 2-0 and came back to tie it, so we feel pretty good about that," fourth-year head coach Glenn Crooks said. "We were a different team in the second half. For whatever reason, the atmosphere just wasn't there in the beginning of the game, but we came out and played well in the second half."

In a very physical match, Princeton committed 22 fouls to Rutgers' nine, and was issued one yellow card. Rutgers outshot the Tigers 10-4, including a 5-3 advantage in shots on goal. Freshman Robyn Jones (Titusville, NJ) made one save in goal for the Knights (5-3-3). This marked the third time this season Rutgers tied a nationally-ranked team at Yurcak Field, following a pair of 0-0 finishes against No. 11 Penn State Sept. 19 and No. 19 Boston College Sept. 28.

Rutgers was ranked tied for sixth by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) and eighth by Soccerbuzz in the Mid-Atlantic Region this week (Oct. 6). Princeton was rated 23rd nationally by the NSCAA, and fourth by the NSCAA and fifth by Soccerbuzz in the Mid-Atlantic Region.

Rutgers will return to BIG EAST Mid-Atlantic Division play with a pair of road matches this weekend, taking on No. 8 West Virginia Friday, Oct. 10, at 7:00 p.m. and Pittsburgh Sunday, Oct. 12, at 1:00 p.m.

No. 23 Princeton 2, Rutgers 1; Yurcak Field; Piscataway, NJ

Score By Periods
Princeton 2 0 0 0 2
Rutgers 0 2 0 0 2
Shots: Princeton 4, RU 10. Corner Kicks: Princeton 5, RU 1. Saves:
Princeton 3, RU 1. Fouls: Princeton 22, RU 9. Offsides: Princeton 2, RU
6. Yellow Cards: Princeton 1 (Negron), RU 0.

Scoring Summary
Goal Assist
Princeton 40:39 Rochelle Willis
Princeton 42:28 Emily Behncke Meghan Farrell
RU 54:22 Carli Lloyd (9)
RU 82:55 Lloyd (10)