PISCATAWAY, N.J. – When
Sam Kroeger cracked the eventual game-winning goal in the 85th minute against LSU, the ensuing celebration at the corner flag was in honor of so much more than the score that helped Rutgers women's soccer beat the Tigers, 3-2, on Sunday afternoon at Yurcak Field.
The Scarlet Knights were celebrating what happened in the locker room at halftime, when the clock was not ticking and Rutgers trailed LSU, 2-0. The Scarlet Knights were celebrating the realizing of a preseason goal: to post a perfect record through non-conference play. The Scarlet Knights were celebrating – 27 strong – that it took a program-wide effort to score three unanswered goals to keep the dream of 8-0-0 alive.
"We came out a little slow, and we knew we would need to step it up in the second half," said sophomore forward
Riley Tiernan, who assisted the game-winning goal. "At halftime, we told each other to relax and play our game. We were not going to let someone come in our house and take our win from us. We set goals for out-of-conference and one was to go undefeated. That second half was the only thing separating us from our goal, so we found a way to get it done."
Tiernan assisted a pair of Kroeger goals as the latter became the team's leading scorer with six on the 2022 season. The first came in the 50th minute, when Tiernan's cross attempt took a fortuitous deflection toward the feet of Kroeger, who buried it to cut the Tigers' lead in half at 2-1.
Kylie Daigle leveled the contest in the 74th minute with one of the prettiest strikes of 2022. Settling a pass from
Giana Romano, Daigle caught LSU off guard with a sneaky, 25-yard, left-footed heater that glanced the bottom of the crossbar on its way into the upper-right of the LSU goal. It was Daigle's fourth goal, and marked the sixth consecutive contest with a point for the sophomore midfielder from Millville, New Jersey.
Kroeger came in clutch once again with a Tiernan-assisted blast in the 85th minute, leading to her patented corner flag dropkick celebration and culminating the comeback.
These Scarlet Knights become one of just two teams in program history to begin a campaign 8-0-0, joining the 2015 College Cup team that began with the same 8-0-0 record before losing their ninth contest of that season. No Rutgers team has ever gone 9-0-0 to start a campaign.
"At halftime,
we talked about going back out and being us," head coach
Mike O'Neill said. "The mentality, the attitude, the commitment, the desire to win the game was there in the second half. You could see it. It was two different halves. Without that mentality, the result was going to be hard to chase. Honesty is the best policy and it took 27 strong, a great team effort from everybody that we are very proud of."
The three unanswered goals were able to win the game thanks to Rutgers defense also rebounding from conceding two goals in the opening 45 minutes. After LSU managed four shots on target in the opening half, the Scarlet Knights did not allow a single shot on goal in the second half, and limited overall attempts to six compared to 10 in the first half.
LSU outshot Rutgers, 16-14, but the Scarlet Knights were more accurate with an 8-4 edge in shots on goal.
Becci Fluchel,
Allison Lynch,
Emily Mason,
Adriana Kuryla,
Sara Brocious, and Tiernan all put in a full 90-minute effort in the come-from-behind victory. Kroeger, who played 87 minutes, scored the game-winner nine minutes after getting her three-minute rest.
KNIGHT NOTES
- The 8-0-0 start is the second in Rutgers women's history, joining the 2015 team's 8-0-0 start on the way to the College Cup that year. The 2015 team lost its ninth game. No Rutgers women's soccer team has gone 9-0-0 to start a year.
- Rutgers comes from behind to win for the third time this season, and the second match in a row.
- The Rutgers defense has held all eight opponents to five shots on goal or less.
- Sam Kroeger notched her second career brace. She now has two braces over the last three matches.
- Career goal marks: Kroeger (12), Daigle (7)
- Career assist marks: Tiernan (19), Romano (4)
- Emma Misal made her 2022 debut in the victory, playing 16 minutes.
- Rutgers won its first-ever meeting with LSU.
UP NEXT: The Scarlet Knights begin their defense of the Big Ten Championship on Sun., Sept 18 at 1 p.m. against Ohio State at Yurcak Field.
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