No. 6 Rutgers women's soccer remains undefeated through 8 games
As the Rutgers women's soccer team wrapped up its non-conference schedule of opponents, the No. 6 Scarlet Knights (8-0-0, 0-0-0) walked out of Yurcak Field on Busch campus with back-to-back come-from-behind wins against La Salle and LSU. Scoring 3 unanswered goals in each game, Rutgers finished non-conference play with a perfect record.
On Thursday, the Knights found themselves trailing early against the Explorers (5-2-0, 0-0-0). La Salle would grab a 1-0 lead 7 minutes into the game with a penalty kick goal scored by Alyssa Gargiulo. Junior midfielder Becci Fluchel committed a penalty inside of the box to force the early chance.
Down 1-0 for the second time this season, Rutgers quickly answered. Junior forward Allison Lowrey would tie the game for the Knights at 16:08 to make things 1-1.
After Lowrey tied things at 1-1, the Explorers gave Rutgers its first lead of the game off an own goal. As senior back Allison Lynch put a shot on net, it bounced off a La Salle player, allowing the Knights to regain the lead. They would hold the 2-1 lead into the halftime break, outshooting the Explorers 9-2.
At 47:42, sophomore midfielder Kylie Daigle rifled her 3rd goal of the year. Daigle's goal put Rutgers up 3-1, as all three strikes came unanswered. The Knights would end up totaling 14 of their 23 shots in the last 45 minutes, which would be enough to hold on with a 3-1 victory.
As Rutgers extended its winning streak to seven games, the last non-conference opponent, the Tigers (5-1-2, 0-0-0), stunned the Knights early.
Today, LSU scored 2 goals within the first 11 minutes of the game. Alesia Garcia put her team up 1-0 at 4:28, while Ida Hermannsdottir found the back of the net at 11:06 to make it 2-0. Within the early stages of the game, Rutgers found itself trailing for the third time this season.
The Tigers would control the pace in the first half by outshooting the Knights 10-4, even though LSU took seven fouls and Rutgers committed just one.
The second half rolled around, and the Knights were able to engineer a comeback.
At 49:09, junior midfielder Sam Kroeger scored her fifth of the season to cut the deficit in half. Although the Tigers were leading past the 70-minute mark, Daigle came through at 73:33. The sophomore scored her 4th goal of the season to tie things up at 2-2. Daigle's strike saw her score for the second straight game, her third time in four games.
As things seemed to be heading toward a tie with less than 10 minutes to go, Kroeger added another goal to put the Knights ahead. The junior scored her 6th of the year at 84:37, which gave Rutgers a 3-2 lead.
The Knights continue to run the table with Big Ten play starting September 18. Ohio State will be the final opponent of a six-game homestand before the program travels to play Penn State.
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