ST. PAUL, Minn. – Ashley Baran scored the Golden Goal 4:27 into the first overtime period to send fifth-seeded Rutgers women's soccer (11-3-4) past 4-seed and No. 16 ranked Michigan State (12-2-5) in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals hosted by the University of Minnesota.
The Scarlet Knights qualify for their sixth Big Ten Tournament semifinals, set for Thurs., Nov. 7 at 3 p.m. ET (2 p.m. CT) at CITYPARK in St. Louis, Missouri against the winner of top-seeded USC and 8-seed Ohio State.
For the second time this season against Michigan State, Rutgers was forced to play from behind. Just 37 seconds into the match, a defensive miscue led to an own goal after a lengthy video assistant review confirmed the ball barely crept over the line for an early 1-0 Spartan lead.
Rutgers responded by dominating the opening 45 minutes. The Scarlet Knights held the vast majority of possession, held the Spartans to zero shots on goal, and placed seven shots on target.
The big shot on goal came from
Gia Girman in the 31st minute to equalize the contest.
Riley Tiernan took possession on the attack and played a through ball to a steaking Girman, who ripped a right-footed shot into the side netting to tie the match at 1-1.
Ashley Baran and
Allie Post both took attempts that missed by inches over the crossbar during the opening half as momentum immediately shifted after the own goal.
Michigan State seemed to regain momentum in the second half, outshooting Rutgers 11-3 over the period. One of those shots off a free kick was destined for net if not for Rutgers goalkeeper
Olivia Bodmer's leaping save in the 88th minute to keep the score tied nearing the end of regulation.
With the score tied 1-1 at the end of regulation, the contest went into Golden Goal overtime. In the fifth minute of the first extra period, Tiernan took advantage of a Michigan State turnover deep in its territory. Tiernan sprung Girman on another breakaway, but this time she juked the keeper and played a lateral pass to Baran, who put it away into an empty net for the Golden Goal to send RU into the tournament semifinals.
"I thought Gia was going to finish it, so I said, 'I may as well follow her!'" Baran said.
"We never stopped working," Girman said. "We knew we just had to continue working together and stick to the plan and good things would come."
The match ended in a 17-17 tie in shot attempts and an 8-3 advantage for Rutgers in shots on goal. Bodmer finished with three saves in the victory.
Shaela Bradley,
Kassidy Banks,
Emily Mason,
Patricia Tsokos, and Tiernan all played the full 94 minutes.
NOTES
- Rutgers qualifies for its sixth Big Ten Tournament semifinals since joining the league in 2014. The Scarlet Knights won their ninth Big Ten Tournament match over that span.
- With 11 assists this season, Riley Tiernan records the 10th double-digit assist season in program history.
- Riley Tiernan's 34th career assist moved her into a tie for sixth place all-time in the Big Ten career assists record book with former teammate Frankie Tagliaferri. She extended her school record for career assists at RU.
- Gia Girman scored career goal No. 6.
- Gia Girman has a career-high three assists as a senior and recorded her second career match with a goal and an assist.
- Ashley Baran scored career goal No. 8 and now leads the team with five goals in 2024.
- Saturday's meeting between the two schools was the 13th all-time and second this season. Rutgers holds a 10-2-1 lead in the series, which dates back to 2004. MSU and Rutgers have never met in the Big Ten Tournament before today.
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