On a night when many residents in New Jersey were seeing the muted display of the Northern Lights in the Garden State, the 817 fans who were fortunate enough to be a Yurcak Field on Thursday night saw something equally impressive.
The very first hat trick by a Scarlet Knight in a Big Ten match.
Seven of the last eight games between the Nebraska Cornhuskers and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights have ended in a draw, and while some may well have expected a defensive struggle in the game, it was the offense on display all night. Due to her yellow card accumulation this season, forward Riley Tiernan was suspended for the match, which allowed senior Gia Girman to get the opportunity to start.
Following a Nebraska goal that was disallowed due to offsides, the Knights jumped on top 1-0 when sophomore Ashley Baran took a pass from Girman and buried the ball in the back of the net at 4:40.
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But Nebraska came back strong to tie the game on a goal from Sarah Weber at 5:15 to level the match, 1-1. Less than five minutes later, Weber struck again, launching one past RU goalkeeper Olivia Bodmer, giving the Cornhuskers a 2-1 lead at 9:55.
After having kept their opponents off the board for much of the year, suddenly the Scarlet Knights had surrendered as many goals in the first 10 minutes of the match as they had through the first 12 games of the season.
With the initial flurry over, the game settled into an end-to-end affair, with Nebraska clearly getting the better of play. Nebraska accrued eight shots in the first half, which ended with Big Red holding the one-goal advantage.
In the second half, the Cornhuskers came out flying, taking the attack to Rutgers, bottling up the Scarlet Knights in their own zone. The way the evening was shaping up, it looked as though it might well be the first time that Nebraska ever beat RU.
But someone forgot to tell Baran, who showed nifty footwork as she attacked in the Huskers zone. Like a snake charmer mesmerizing a cobra, Baran froze the Nebraska defender, then blasted a shot at 50:19 to even the score, 2-2.
Then, lightning struck a third time as Baran’s brace quickly turned into a hat trick when Girman again found the sophomore forward, who put the ball into the net three minutes later to give the Knights the one-goal advantage, 3-2, at 53:39.
Baran nearly had her fourth goal of the match when she broke down the right side of the pitch and fired the shot just high of the net, over the outstretched hand of Hauk at 64:06.
Looking for the equalizer, the Huskers pressed the attack, flooding the offensive zone to gain the advantage in numbers. Rutgers responded by keeping possession with short, controlled passes, then finding the open teammate with an outlet pass to move the ball out of danger.
Content to play keep away, Rutgers watched the clock wind down as the Huskers’ frustration grew, and despite 15 shots by the visitors in the match, RU was able to hold on for a 3-2 victory.
With the win, the Scarlet Knights are 8-0-2 in their last 10 games, improving to 9-1-3 on the season and 5-0-2 in Big Ten Conference play.
Rutgers will need to rest up for their next contest, when they host the No. 9 ranked Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday, October 13 at Yurcak Field. The game is slated for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff and will be carried on the Big Ten Plus network.
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