Sept. 28, 2014
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Madison Tiernan’s goal in the 50th minute sent No. 17/25 Rutgers to a 1-0 victory over the 13th-ranked University of Iowa soccer team Sunday afternoon at the Iowa Soccer Complex.
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“We played 85 minutes of very good soccer,” said UI head coach Dave DiIanni. “We are slow coming out in the second half and the first five minutes cost us the game. We couldn’t dig ourselves out of the hole. I feel for our team because they played hard.”
After playing to a scoreless tie in the first half, the Scarlet Knights came out with a vengeance early in the second half, peppering five shots at Iowa goalkeeper Hannah Clark in the first four minutes. In the 50th minute, Tiernan received a pass from Amy Pietrangelo, gathered herself before firing into the far corner to give Rutgers a 1-0 lead.
The Scarlet Knights finished with a 21-12 edge in shots for the game with six being on goal. Fourteen of the 21 attempts came over the final 45 minutes.
The Hawkeyes regrouped after the stagnant five-minute stretch, collecting seven shots in an effort to net the equalizer. Rutgers’ goalkeeper Casey Murphy made three saves to pick up her fifth shutout and the Scarlet Knight’s sixth overall shutout this season.
Clark finished with five saves in 90 minutes of action, falling to 4-2-0 in six starts.
Iowa (8-3-0, 3-2-0) opens a three-game road trip with an Oct. 2 matchup at Michigan State beginning at 3:30 p.m. (CT).
“We have a quick turnaround, but we’re playing some good soccer,” said DiIanni. “We need to put together 90 minutes. Today was as close as we’ve come in a long time.”
