No. 9 Rutgers women’s soccer moves to 4-0 in Big Ten play

The No. 9 Rutgers women’s soccer team won its fifth straight game on Sunday in a 2-1 victory on the road against Ohio State (7-5-1; 2-2-1). The Buckeyes jumped out to an early lead but the Scarlet Knights battled back to win its third consecutive meeting between the two programs. RU is now 7-0-2 against OSU since joining the Big Ten in 2014.

Rutgers completed a two game road trip with six crucial points after also beating Minnesota 2-1 on Thursday.

Ohio State took the lead in the 14th minute on a goal from Kailyn Dudukovich that was assisted by Kitty Jones-Black.

The Scarlet Knights battled back and evened the score in the 35th minute as Frankie Tagliaferri scored her ninth goal of the season.

Rutgers kept the pressure on and changed the momentum of the game for good as Giana Romano scored the first goal of her career in the 42nd minute. It was a beautiful goal that was started by Gia Girman and Allison Lowrey crossed it perfectly to Romano, who buried the game winner from just outside the 18 yard box.

“It feels great to be able to contribute to the win today. We worked hard until the end and finished the weekend off with a big six points. Road wins in the Big Ten are never easy and hopefully we can keep grinding and take this momentum into the next to conference games coming up,” said sophomore midfielder Giana Romano.

The defense held firm as goalkeeper Meagan McClelland made a season high five saves in the second half to preserve the victory. The Scarlet Knights held a 10-8 shot advantage and 4-2 edge in corners. Rutgers has now held 39 straight opponents to single-digit shots on goal dating back to the 2019 season.

“It was a tough weekend with the travel and great teams we played, but we pulled together as a team for our common goal: to win. Everyone on the field had a great mentality and put in great shifts. The energy on and off the field pushed us to the end. This team is something special and we proved it today,” said sophomore midfielder Sara Brocious.

Romano became the 13th player on the roster to score a goal this season and German is the 15th player to record an assist. The balanced scoring attack has been a key difference in the success of RU so far this season.

“The win today shows just how important the depth of the team is. The game changers came on and we were able to find two goals right away. Everyone is able to play with anyone, no matter who is on the field we’ll be able to build and find the net,” said sophomore forward Allison Lowrey.

No. 9 Rutgers is of to a 4-0-0 start in Big Ten play and 9-2-0 overall this season. They will now host No. 17 Michigan (8-1-3; 2-0-2) for its rescheduled match on Wednesday, October 6 at 1 p.m. ET at Yurcak Field. It will be a battle between the last two unbeaten teams in conference play, although Rutgers sits atop the Big Ten standings with 12 points tied with Purdue (9-2-2; 4-1-0). A win against the nationally ranked Wolverines would would be a huge step forward in the program’s quest to become the first at Rutgers to capture a Big Ten title.