Brown’s Kira Maguire made a perfect centering pass to senior forward Ava Seelenfreund, who headed the ball into the far corner of the net with less than 10 minutes remaining to score the only goal of their match with Rutgers in opening round action of the NCAA Tournament.
On the strength of their defense, Brown eliminated No. 5 seed Rutgers 1-0 as Bears freshman goalkeeper Bella Schopp recorded a clean sheet against the most prolific offense in the Big Ten.
The Bears came out strong at the start of the contest and controlled the match in the early going, dominating the initial 10 minutes of play at Yurcak Field. Rutgers goalkeeper Meagan McClelland, who has played more minutes on the pitch than any other college player (including men’s soccer) at any level, was kept busy as Brown recorded six shots in the first 13 minutes of the match. Rutgers, who had had a 13-day layoff between games may have been rested, but looked a little rusty in the early going.
After weathering the initial fury from Brown, the match settled into a defensive struggle, with play between the boxes for the remainder of the first half. Rutgers had two quality first half chances at goals with efforts from Becci Fluchel and Adriana Kuryla, but the shots could not find the back of the net.
The Scarlet Knights no doubt missed sophomore Emily Mason, who is still recovering from her late season injury, and was seen on crutches before the game. Rutgers’ efforts were also hampered when Allison Lowrey limped off the pitch with 10:14 left in the first half, although she would return later in the match. As the game clock wound down to zero on the first forty-five minutes, the fans at Yurcak Field had seen this before in 2022, as the Scarlet Knights are typically a second half team.
But as the second half began, both squads settled into the same pattern. While Rutgers had to be pleased with holding the No. 2 offensive team in the nation without a goal, tensions began to rise among fans as the clock drained.
It was not until Maguire broke down the right side of the pitch and offered a centering pass to a wide open Seelenfreund that the stalemate was finally broken. Seelenfreund’s header trickled past McClelland on her left side, giving the Bears the late lead at 80:09 into the match. It was Seelenfreund’s tenth goal of the season.
From there, the Bears were content to slow the game’s pace and watch as the big scoreboard winked down the time remaining in the Scarlet Knights’ season. The last chance for Rutgers came on a free kick with just over a minute remaining when Sam Kroeger launched a well-placed ball that forced Schopp to make a game-saving play. From there the rebound pinballed in front of the Brown net, but bounced out of play to the left of the goal.
With the win, Brown moves on to play UC Irvine in the next round of the Tournament. For the Scarlet Knights, the early exit from both the Big Ten Tournament and a first-round elimination in the NCAA Tournament at the hands of an unseeded Bears squad is undoubtedly a bitter end to their season. The Knights went 1-4-1 in their final six contests, and for a team that went to the Final Four in 2021, it is unquestionably a disappointment for the seniors who watched their college careers end abruptly.
The 2021 team had three players that went directly from Yurcak Field into professional soccer. While expectations and hopes were high for the Scarlet Knights in 2022, no team can lose that amount of talent and not be expected to take a step back in performance.
While the Scarlet Knights introduced their newest recruits this past week via their social media outlets, next year will truly be a proving ground for Rutgers. The loss of McClelland and steady defender Adriana Kuryla will be obstacles for RU to overcome in 2023. However, the majority of the talent on the team should return as the Scarlet Knights’ top seven scorers this season were either juniors or sophomores, which bodes well for the future. The biggest question for head coach Mike O’Neill and his staff will be who can possibly replace McClelland in net.
