If he was not already an excellent head coach, Mike O’Neill may well have made a terrific chef. Because, as any great chef will tell you, there’s one thing that elevates a good combination of ingredients into a great one.
Seasoning.
After losing a good deal of their offensive production at the conclusion of the 2023 season, O’Neill was forced to play underclassmen in the early games of the 2024 campaign, and goal scoring suffered.
But now, with eight games under their belts, the younger players are beginning to gel. Both the offense, as well as a stingy defense, have put RU into the top 25 in the RPI rating this season.
Against Oregon Thursday night, the Scarlet Knights struck first when the two leading scorers on Rutgers combined for the initial tally of the match. Senior Riley Tiernan launched a feeding pass into the front of the Ducks’ goal, where Allie Post finished the play to give RU the 1-0 lead at 7:34.
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The Ducks nearly tied the match at 23:20 when senior Taylor Bryan rifled a high shot towards the top of the net, only to be robbed by Rutgers goalkeeper Olivia Bodmer.
Instead of a level match, Rutgers extended their lead just two minutes later when Tiernan set up freshman Shaela Bradley, who placed one into the top right corner of the Oregon net at 25:54 for the 2-0 lead.
For Bradley it was her second goal of the season, but for Tiernan, it was assist number 30 in her prolific college career, giving her the Rutgers record.
Up by two goals, the Scarlet Knights continued swarming around the pitch with confidence, winning races to the ball in open space and wearing out the turf in the Ducks’ end of the field. As a result, the first half of play proved to be a busy one for Ducks’ goalkeeper Maddy Goldberg, as RU out-shot Oregon 17 to two, with eight of those shots on goal.
The second half picked up right where the first half ended, with Rutgers controlling play in the first 11 minutes. When Oregon’s Karolina Jasaityte picked up a red card for denying a scoring chance by Tiernan deep in the Oregon end, the Ducks would play the remainder of the match down one player.
By the time Rutgers senior Kyle Daigle fired a well-placed shot into the back of the Oregon goal at 83:17, the match was already decided, and the Scarlet Knights were on their way to moving to 6-1-1 on the season.
While the offense has come alive during their winning streak, Rutgers has not surrendered a goal to their opponents since August 25, and have only given up two all season. Every one of the team’s wins this season has been by shutout.
The Scarlet Knights next contest will be a home match against the Washington Huskies. The game will be a 1:00 p.m. start on Sunday, September 22 at Yurcak Field.
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