PISCATAWAY, N.J. – In a tale of two halves, Rutgers women's soccer (4-4-2) rallied from a deficit and dropped a tight, 2-1 final score to No. 4 Penn State on Thursday evening at Yurcak Field.
Sam Kroeger scored the Rutgers goal in the 76th minute as the momentum shifted toward RU, whose defense kept Penn State off the scoreboard over the final 51 minutes.
SCORING SUMMARY
- Penn State scored twice in the opening half in the 34th and 40th minutes.
- Sam Kroeger got her first of the year after intercepting a Penn State pass at the midfield line, dribbling deep into the defense with space, and firing a clean, low shot into the right-side netting with the left foot.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
- As the energy swung toward Rutgers, goalkeeper Olivia Bodmer made a save in the 80th minute at the top of the net to keep the Scarlet Knights a goal away.
- Giana Romano fired the final shot on goal of the evening, forcing a save.
- That shot gave Rutgers a 3-2 advantage in shots on goal in the second half.
QUOTABLE
"In the first half, we played to not lose and were on our heels," said head coach
Mike O'Neill. "In the second half, we played to win. That has to be our mindset, so we need to build off that confidence from the final 45 minutes."
"Sammi's mentality was great," O'Neill said. "She was going to goal, and that represented the entire team's mindset in the second half. Go to goal. Attack the space. Make something happen."
STAT SHEET
KNIGHT NOTES
- Sam Kroeger's goal was just the third conceded by Penn State this season.
- Career goals: Kroeger (14)
- Rutgers is 9-12-4 all-time against Penn State, including a 5-3-2 mark as Big Ten regular season opponents and a 5-4-3 record overall at Yurcak Field.
LOOK AHEAD
The Scarlet Knights stay home to host Purdue in Big Ten action on Sun., Sept. 24 at 1 p.m., streaming live on B1G+.
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