Maryland sophomore Lisa McIntyre broke through the Rutgers defense and picked up an errant clearing pass to score the tying goal with less than four minutes left as the Scarlet Knights and Terrapins played to a 1-1 draw in front of a crowd of 1,573 at Yurcak Field.
Coming into today’s contest with Maryland, Rutgers sat in fifth place in the conference standings, just a point behind Michigan State, with the start of the Big Ten Tournament looming on Halloween.
In fact, three of the top six teams in the conference were former Pac-12 clubs, as USC and UCLA held the top two spots, with Washington holding the sixth spot.
By comparison, with an overall record of 4-10-4 and just 1-8-1 in the conference, Maryland occupied the bottom of the Big Ten standings.
One might have expected Rutgers to come out playing inspired soccer, but the first half of the opening period was dominated by the Terrapins, who were out-shooting RU 7-1 in the early going.
But, it was Senior Day, and two Scarlet Knight veterans opened the scoring with a dramatic goal at 23:08 off a free kick.
Riley Tiernan fired a high, arching kick that curled to the right of Maryland goalkeeper Liz Beardsley. Before the ball could bounce on the pitch, Emily Mason cut in on goal, firing the ball into the net to give Rutgers a 1-0 lead.
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While the goal was easily a candidate for SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays of the day, Maryland was able to hold off the Scarlet Knights offense for the balance of the half.
Down by a goal, the Terrapins came back out for the start of the second half with the same energy with which they had begun the match. That tenacity paid off with just over 21 minutes to play as they earned a free kick just outside the 18 box, with a chance to bring the game level. But, sophomore Madison Krakower’s blast was blocked by the Rutgers wall of defenders before the ball could reach RU goalkeeper Olivia Bodmer.
Bodmer was tested again later in the match when Maryland senior Katie Coyle fired a bullet that seemed destined for the top of the goal until the RU netminder jumped up to make the save of the game to preserve the lead at 74:04.
However, when the RU defense was beaten on a Maryland rush, the RU goalkeeper challenged McIntyre with just over three minutes left to play. Alone on the backline, Bodmer attempted to clear the ball but it was blocked, leaving a wide-open breakaway for Maryland. With nothing but a yawning net in front of her, McIntyre easily put home the equalizer at 86:42, to bring the game level, 1-1, as the stunned crowd looked on.
With less than four minutes left in the match, the Scarlet Knights could not muster the offense for the go-ahead goal, and had to be content to play to a draw. For the Knights it was a bitter pill to swallow for a team that has posted a record of 1-2-1 in their last four games as they head into conference tournament play.
Prior to Sunday’s match, Rutgers honored seniors Gia Girman, Kylie Daigle, Kassidy Banks, Emily Mason, Cameron Kennett, and Riley Tiernan, as well as graduate players Sydney Urban and Arden Lembryk.
The Scarlet Knights will now prepare to play Michigan State in the Big Ten Conference Tournament, which starts Thursday, October 31. The first-round matches and quarterfinals will conclude on November 3, with the semifinals beginning on November 7.
For only the sixth time since the tournament’s inception in 1994, the semifinals and the final will be held on a non-campus field. This year’s semifinals and the conference final will be held at Citypark, the home field of the St. Louis City SC of the MLS. The semifinals and the final, which is scheduled for November 10, will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
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