PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 21 Rutgers women's soccer closed out a long weekend on the road with a 3-2 win over Michigan State Sunday afternoon. The Scarlet Knights scored three straight goals, including two in three minutes, to erase an early 2-0 deficit, to wrap up the 2019 season with four consecutive wins.
"We've said all year long that we bend, but we don't break. This win today really showcased that mentality," said senior forward
Brittany LaPlant. "Going down two goals early on is never easy to come back from, but we never put our heads down. We worked our way back and scored three nice goals along the way. I'm so proud of how we've reacted not just today, but all season long as a team because we've shown time and time again our grit and resiliency to get the job done."
RU improved to an overall record of 14-2-2 and a Big Ten mark of 8-2-1, matching its most wins in the league since its inaugural year in 2014.
QUICK STATS
Junior forward
Nneka Moneme scored two goals on the day, including the game winner, to extend her scoring streak to four straight games. It marked Moneme's team-leading 11th goal of the season. Classmate and forward
Amirah Ali added a goal of her own in the victory, marking her ninth of the year.
Senior midfielder
Taylor Aylmer contributed two assists, while LaPLant and redshirt-freshman
Emily Harrigan added a helper each. Sophomore goalkeeper
Meagan McClelland posted three saves in the victory.
THE MATCH
Michigan State opened scoring with an unassisted long shot from 18-yards out, which snuck in just at the top right corner passed McClelland's finger tips. Then in the 17th minute the Spartans added another goal off a corner kick to go up 2-0.
In the 23rd minute, Moneme shifted the momentum to the Scarlet Knights with a goal. After Aylmer sent in a long pass from midfield, Moneme drove through traffic to kick in the goal and cut into the deficit.
Three minutes later, Ali registered the equalizer to knot things up 2-2 in the 26th minute, scoring past four defenders off an assist from LaPlant.
Rutgers never let up, as Moneme added her second of the day to give RU the lead for good at 3-2 in the 36th minute. Harrigan used a short pass off a corner kick to set up another long pass from Aylmer. Moneme used her shoulders to send in a behind the back shot for the goal.
Following halftime, the team's played through a balanced second half that saw shots tied, 5-5. McClelland made two stops in the frame to help seal the victory for RU.
"Never panic, just have patience and trust. We dictate our own destiny and we knew what we had to accomplish today," said senior back
Tiernny Wiltshire. "Today, we showed who we are and what Rutgers stands for. This will help us going forward by remembering our brand and who we are and what we play for."
UP NEXT
Rutgers awaits seeding for the 2019 Big Ten Tournament, having clinched home field advantage for the quarterfinals. The top four finishers in the league will host the bottom four seeds in the quarterfinal round on Sunday, Nov. 3.
KNIGHT NOTES
- Rutgers remained undefeated on the road this season with a mark of 5-0-2, including a 4-0-1 record in Big Ten away matches.
- The 14 regular season wins matches the most in program history. RU also recorded 14 regular season wins in 1996 and 2015.
- The eight conference vistories also match the most in program history, having posted eight league wins in 2006 and 2014.
- Rutgers improved to 6-0 in the all-time series with Michigan State.
- The Scarlet Knights have posted three or more goals in four matches this season, including two conference games.
- Today's win marked the largest comeback victory for RU since 2002, when the Scarlet Knights erased a 2-0 defcit en route to a 6-5 (2ot) win over Miami.
- Nneka Moneme posted her second multi-goal game of the year with two goals against the Spartans. Moneme recorded a hat trick in the 5-0 win over Fordham in August of this season for the first multi-score game of her career.
- Moneme moved into the team lead with 11 goals and six game winners on the season. Her six game winners are tied for second on Rutgers single-season charts with Carli Lloyd's 2003 season.
- Amirah Ali has nine goals on the season paired with four assists for 22 points on the year. Ali's 62 career points (25g, 12a) move her into eighth on the career record list.
- Taylor Aylmer has posted a team-high nine assists this regular season. With 17 career assists, Aylmer moved into a tie for eighth on the career charts also with Carli Lloyd.
- Emily Harrigan added the first assist of her career in the win.
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