Women’s Soccer defeats Arkansas, headed to final four
Just as in their Sweet Sixteen game against TCU, 110 minutes were not enough to determine a winner in an NCAA Tournament match for Rutgers. For the second consecutive game, Rutgers won in a shootout when Riley Tiernan’s overtime penalty kick ended the marathon and will send the Scarlet Knights to the 2021 NCAA Final Four.
The No. 7 nationally-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks came into Piscataway to face the No. 5 Rutgers Scarlet Knights with the hopes of reaching the NCAA Final Four for the first time in their program’s history. The Razorbacks easily disposed of Northwestern State 5-1 in the opening round of the Tournament, and followed that up with a second-round blanking of Virginia Tech, 3-0. The Razorbacks ran into their most difficult test in the Sweet Sixteen, pulling out a 3-2 victory over Notre Dame when the team’s third-leading scorer, Taylor Malham (11-5-27), scored the game-winning goal in the last 12 minutes of the game.
The game-time temperature of 37 degrees did not dissuade the fans from packing the stands at Yurcak Field. But while the temperature was cold, the teams came out hot. The fireworks started with an offensive press by Arkansas that provided senior Parker Goins with the first scoring chance of the game when she rang one off the crossbar just 28 seconds into the match.
Shortly thereafter, Big Ten Freshman of the Year Riley Tiernan gave the Scarlet Knights a 1-0 lead with her eighth goal of the season a mere two minutes into the game.
However, the answering goal came less than six minutes later when junior Anna Podojil controlled a pass from forwardTaylor Malham in front of the Rutgers goal, then turned and lifted one over goalkeeper Meagan McClelland to tie the game 1-1 at 7:31.
But the tie would not last long as the Razorbacks got the benefit of a corner kick, and junior Reagan Swindall headed the ball into the goal at 14:42 to give Arkansas the lead, 2-1.
From there the game settled in with both teams heading up and down the pitch, causing both goalkeepers to have busy nights. When Amirah Ali fired one off the goal post at 42:06, she got a second chance when a precision pass from Tiernan found Ali and the senior forward put the ballpast Razorbacks’ goalkeeper Hannah Warner at 42:51 to tie the match 2-2.
When the second half began, both teams tightened up their defense, and while the end-to-end action continued, the quality chances became fewer and fewer. Defensively, Arkansas keyed on Ali in an attempt to prevent the All-American from mounting any attack for Rutgers.
The crowd began to sense that the next goal would likely be the game winner, and the constant offensive pressure by the Razorbacks kept the Scarlet Knights on their heels throughout the second half. When the defense broke down, it was McClelland who kept Rutgers’ hopes alive, and as the game clock expired, the teams prepared to play overtime.
But two overtimes were not enough. Both of the extra sessions played out just as regular time had, with Arkansas’ press offense creating quality chances in the Rutgers end of the pitch. But while the Scarlet Knights defense bent, they did not break. When the clock wound down to 0:00, both teams—visibly exhausted at the end of two overtimes—prepared for the penalty kick round.
And for the second straight game, goalkeeper Meagan McClelland was the difference maker, not only netting one of the penalty kicks herself, but making the saves that sent the Scarlet Knights to their first NCAA College Cup Final Four since 2015. While the Knights can savor their Elite Eight victory, they will be quickly back to work in preparing for their next opponent, No. 1 ranked Florida State, on Dec 3. By virtue of the Seminoles victory over Michigan in their National Quarterfinals match, Rutgers is now the only Big Ten team remaining in the NCAA Tournament.
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