Desperately needing a win to stay tournament eligible, the injury-riddled Scarlet Knights dug deep into their collective mettle and willed themselves to a 1-0 victory over Ohio State before a disappointed crowd of 470 spectators in Columbus, Ohio.

From training camp onwards, Rutgers has been plagued by injuries to key players, and that adversity has spawned opportunities for secondary players to shine. While those secondary players have greatly contributed to keeping Rutgers in contention this year, against Ohio State the Scarlet Knights got a monumental effort from one player who may well have saved their season.

Their captain.

On a rain-soaked night, the Buckeyes and Scarlet Knights played to a scoreless first half that saw players from both teams sloshing over the pitch, somehow getting in position to fire 22 shots through the initial 45 minutes.

Of the six RU shots that found their way through to the OSU goal, the outstanding play of Buckeyes goalkeeper Molly Pritchard was equal to the task, keeping the Scarlet Knights off the board. By comparison, Rutgers goalkeeper Olivia Bodmer stopped the three Ohio State shots that threatened the RU net to keep the Knights’ hopes alive.

But the resilient nature of the Scarlet Knights is tied to their captains, and while Rutgers continues to miss Emma Misal from the lineup, the two others showed why they are the true leaders of this team.

The game marked the return of captain Becci Fluchel to the starting lineup, and her presence on the field led directly to the only goal of the game. As Fluchel took a nifty left-footed pass in the box from co-captain Allison Lynch, she quickly put the ball past Pritchard to give Rutgers the 1-0 lead at 48:50.

Just a short time later, Fluchel stepped up to make a defensive play, taking a point-blank blast to block a shot, clearly stunning her as she dropped to the ground. As RU put the ball out of play to the near sideline to get a stoppage, attention was turned to the injured Fluchel. However, once she got back to her feet, Fluchel eschewed medical attention and waved the training staff back to the bench.

In a game of this importance, the captain was not leaving the pitch.

With so much time left in the match, the concern was another late-game letdown, which has cost Rutgers victories and points this season.

Ohio State has never beaten Rutgers, and that trend would not change on this night. The Scarlet Knights used the weather and the clock to their advantage while neutralizing Ohio State’s two scoring threats, junior Kailyn Dudukovich, and freshman Amanda Schlueter.

OSU had amassed 12 shots in the first half of the match, but the Knights clamped down in the second half, limiting the Buckeyes to just four shots in the second period. At the end of 90 minutes, the Scarlet Knights had their much-needed victory, and three points to move them ahead of OSU in the Big Ten standings, now holding tiebreakers over both Ohio State and Michigan.

Along with the absence of Misal, the Scarlet Knights were also missing the two-way contributions of forward Gia Girman, who sustained an injury against Michigan State and did not travel with the team to Columbus.

Rutgers now returns home for the final match of the regular season on Sunday, October 22 at Yurcak Field against Northwestern. A victory over the Wildcats would secure a berth in the Big Ten Tournament, and the match is scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. start.