Oct. 23, 2015 Box Score
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - No. 12 Rutgers women's soccer and No. 19 Minnesota entered the locker rooms tied after 45 minutes, but the Scarlet Knights quickly flipped the switch on the Golden Gophers. RU rolled in the second half of its "Blackout Match" Friday at Yurcak Field, scoring twice in a two-minute span of a 3-1 win.
Rutgers (13-2-2, 6-2-2 Big Ten) conceded the match's first goal in the 29th minute, but three unanswered scores from junior Jessica Puchalski (South Brunswick, N.J.) in the 42nd, Erin Smith (Medford Lakes, N.J.) in the 58th, and Colby Ciarrocca (Montgomery, N.J.) in the 60th put the Golden Gophers (11-4-3, 6-3-1 Big Ten) away in a pivotal Big Ten match.
"The goal at the end of the first half was big. Then we got inside and we were able to talk about what we needed to do," said head coach Mike O'Neill. "We just talked about how we didn't play our best, it's 1-1, now let's go out and play our best, and the ladies responded so well."
The victory moves the Scarlet Knights into second place in the conference with 20 points, pending the outcome of No. 10 Penn State's (11-3-2, 6-2-1 Big Ten) and Wisconsin's (10-4-3, 7-1-1 Big Ten) respective matches tomorrow.
Wisconsin leads the Big Ten race with 22 points and plays Maryland at 6 p.m. Saturday. Penn State, now tied for third with Minnesota with 19 points, takes on Ohio State at 6 p.m. Saturday.
The Gophers pounced on RU early by registered the first two shots of the match, eventually breaking through on a corner kick in the 29th minute sent in by Maddie Gaffney and scored by Josee Stiever. Gaffney's ball was headed by Tori Burnett inside the box, followed by a Stiever volley to give UM the 1-0 lead.
After the goal, RU surrendered just two more shots for the remainder of the contest.
The Scarlet Knights benefitted from a set piece opportunity before half in the 42nd minute, with senior forward Rachel Cole (Teaneck, N.J.) hitting the ball into the box from around the near corner after a Gopher foul. The ball rattled around the defense and made its way to Puchalski, who headed it into the back of the net.
Smith's game-winner in the 58th, her second goal of the year, was also one of the craftiest this season for the Scarlet Knights. Junior midfielder Tori Prager (Mount Laurel, N.J.) connected with Smith pushing up midfield, and from there Smith did the rest.
The Shawnee High School product dribbled forward, cut left past the defender, and rifled a left-footed finish left post from the top of the 18-yard box.
Ciarrocca got on the board two minutes later on an assist from Smith for her team-leading sixth goal of the season. Smith played a ball forward that trickled into the right side of the box, and Ciarrocca went right foot to the left post for the score. Ciarrocca has now scored in three consecutive matches.
Casey Murphy (Bridgewater, N.J.) made one save in the win, her 13th of the year in net for the Scarlet Knights.
Rutgers closes the regular season on Wednesday, Oct. 28 at Iowa (7-9-1, 1-8-1 Big Ten).
Game Notes
- Rutgers extended its current unbeaten streak to seven matches (5-0-2) with the win.
- The Scarlet Knights are 3-0 vs. ranked opponents this season, all of which were top-20 sides. The aggregate score from those matches is 6-1, Rutgers.
- Smith's game-winner was the second this season. The three-points in a single match are a new career-high.
- Rutgers is 29-2-1 in its last 32 contests at home. The Scarlet Knights are 9-0-1 "On the Banks" this season.
- Ciarrocca increased her Rutgers lead with six goals and 17 points this season. She has scored in three consecutive contests.
- Puchalski's goal was her first this season and fifth of her career.
- Senior midfielder Hayley Katkowski (Westford, Mass.) started her 81st consecutive game for Rutgers since her career began in 2012. She is now fourth on Rutgers all-time list for starts in a career.
- Skroski played the full time for the 15th time this season. Reed and Katkowski logged the full time for the 11th
- 16 of RU's 25 goals this season have come in the final 45 minutes of play.
- RU improves to 2-1 all-time against Minnesota, with both wins in the series coming at home.
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