PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 9 Rutgers women's soccer pushed past Michigan State, 1-0, for its ninth consecutive win and eighth in Big Ten play on Sunday afternoon at Yurcak Field. An assist from freshman
Riley Tiernan to sophomore
Allison Lowrey in the 61st minute helped the Scarlet Knights move to 8-0 in conference play and 13-2 on the season. The Scarlet Knights outshot the Spartans, 33-4, and had 10 shots on goal during the impressive home victory.
Sunday served as Senior Day for RU, as the program honored its 11 seniors in front of 1,000 fans.
"There was a lot of emotion here today," said head coach
Mike O'Neill. "These 11 seniors have made an incredible contribution to the program, and you want to make sure we honor them the right way and at the same time, not lose focus. Their energy was unbelievable and it was special to get the 1-0 victory on Senior Day. I can't thank this group enough."
Rutgers muscled 10 shots in the opening 45 minutes of play, which included three opportunities from senior forward
Frankie Tagliaferri,before the Scarlet Knights entered the locker room tied with MIchigan State, 0-0. RU's defense held the Spartans' attack to just one shot opportunity in the first half, while its offense held possession for the majority of the opening stanza.
A shot from senior forward
Amirah Ali seven minutes into the second half nearly broke the scoreless streak when it went over the head of MSU's goalie and ricocheted off the crossbar. Rutgers was able to convert nine minutes later when Tiernan sprinted past a host of Michigan State defenders off a corner opportunity to set up Lowery, who finished the play to give the Scarlet Knights an 1-0 lead.
From there, RU dictated the pace of the entire game until the final whistle, as it fired off 10 more shots during the last 30 minutes of action. Rutgers only allowed three additional shots from the Spartans in the second half to close out its eighth consecutive Big Ten win.
Rutgers closes the regular season on the road with back-to-back games at Indiana (Thursday, Oct. 21) and Illinois, (Sunday, Oct. 24).
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