Riley Tiernan fired a picture-perfect crossing pass to freshman Shaela Bradley, who buried the ball into the back of the net for the deciding goal at 31:02 of the first half, as Rutgers downed the Fighting Illini, 2-1, before a crowd of 1,234 on Sunday afternoon at Yurcak Field.

Coming into the game with a 7-7-2 overall record, the Illini were just 3-5-1 against conference opponents, tied for eleventh place in the Big Ten.

By comparison, with the conference tournament looming in the near future, the Scarlet Knights sat in a tie with Ohio State and Penn State for fifth place, with one game remaining against Maryland.

The main focus for the Rutgers defense was unquestionably Illini junior forward Sarah Foley (9-2-20), who ranked as the sixth leading scorer in the conference, as well as teammate Kennedy Berschel (4-4-12), who ranked nineteenth in the Big Ten.

On the offensive attack, the Scarlet Knights would have to concern themselves with beating sophomore goalkeeper Izzy Lee (1.31 goals-against-average), who was tied for eighth in the conference.

But Rutgers has weapons of their own, and the Scarlet Knights’ leading scorer asserted herself midway through the first period. Tiernan first stole the ball on the right flank, weaved through the Illini defense, and got the goalkeeper to commit before putting her shot in the bottom left of the net at 22:55 to give RU the lead, 1-0.

However, the advantage was short-lived as Foley found the back of the net for her tenth goal of the season less than three minutes later to bring the game level, 1-1, at 25:09.

Tiernan then continued to re-set the Rutgers record books as her incredible crossing pass found Bradley, who was positioned perfectly to collect her fourth goal of the season and put the Knights back in the lead.

Bradley’s tally closed out the scoring for the half, and at the end of the first 45 minutes of play, the Knights held a one-goal lead, 2-1.

Down by a goal, the Illini exerted pressure throughout the second half, with the majority of match play taking place in the Rutgers’ end of the pitch.

The hard work consistently gave Illinois scoring chances, whether from corner kicks or free kicks, that constantly wreaked havoc in front of the Rutgers goal.

The Illini out-shot the Scarlet Knights in the game, 15-10, but only six of those attempts were on net. The win halted the Knights’ losing streak and helped Rutgers secure better positioning for the upcoming Big Ten Tournament, which is scheduled to start on Thursday, October 31.

The Scarlet Knights will be home for their final regular season contest against the Maryland Terrapins on Sunday, October 27. The game will be preceded by the annual Senior Day festivities at Yurcak Field. The match, which is scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff, will be carried on the Big Ten Plus network.