Photo Credit: Mike Franco

No. 4 Rutgers women's soccer wins thriller against Maryland

Rutgers women's soccer, currently ranked fourth in the nation, won a hard-fought 1-0 match against Maryland and their former coach Megan Nemzer. Sara Brocious put in the game-winning goal, her third of the season, at the 87:48 mark of the match. The Scarlet Knights improved to 10-1 on the season, while Maryland dropped to 2-3-5. Many emotions were in this match as the Scarlet Knights faced a former coach with both teams looking to bounce back from a previous loss.

Both teams played great defense as neither squad couldn't get anything going on offense until late in the match. It was a back-and-forth battle between these two teams. Coach Nemzer had the Terrapins in a position to pull out a win, but they fell just short. Coach Mike O'Neill had Rutgers focused and didn't let the emotions get to them throughout the game. Many fouls were called on both teams, with three Maryland players picking up yellow cards in the match.

Meagan McClelland continued her strong season for Rutgers as the top goalkeeper, picking up her sixth shutout of the season. She has excellent footwork in covering the goal and never backs down from tough situations, which always gives her team a chance to win the game. McClelland made it hard for Maryland to get quality looks at goal as the Terrapins struggled to find openings against the Rutgers defense.

Brocious has been clutch for the Scarlets Knights all season and she showed it on Sunday with the game-winning goal. The junior midfielder was able to find open spots in the Maryland defense to get shots off and distributed the ball nicely to her teammates. Brocious is currently second on the team in assists with five and tied for third in total points with 11.

Rutgers Women's Soccer is currently 2-1 in the Big Ten and is in a great position to take home another conference title. The Scarlet Knights have been one of the top teams in the Big Ten all season and have the potential to make another deep run in the NCAA Tournament. Sunday was a big win for them as the Scarlet Knights were able to bounce back from their loss earlier in the week to Penn State.

What's Next For Rutgers

Look for the Scarlet Knights to continue the momentum as they face Northwestern on Thursday night in Illinois.