U-M Falls Short Against No. 8 Rutgers in Battle of B1G Unbeatens

Wednesday, October 6

Piscataway, N.J.

1:00 PM

Michigan

8-2-3, 2-1-2

Rutgers

10-2-0, 5-0-0

Michigan

Rutgers

Hannah Blake (Michigan Photography)

U-M Falls Short Against No. 8 Rutgers in Battle of B1G Unbeatens

10/6/2021 3:41:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score PDF Boxscore

By: Scott Kemps

» Hannah Blake had U-M's lone goal, coming off a set piece in the 35th minute.
» The Wolverines held a 3-2 advantage on shots in the first half but were outshot 14-4 as Rutgers scored a trio of second-half goals.
» The contest was U-M's first against a ranked opponent this season.

Site: Piscataway, N.J. (Yurcak Field)
Score: #8 Rutgers 4, #16 Michigan 1
Records: U-M (8-2-3, 2-1-2 B1G), Rutgers (10-2-0, 5-0-0 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, Oct. 10 -- at Nebraska (Lincoln, Neb.), 11 a.m. CDT

PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- The 16th-ranked University of Michigan women's soccer team fell 4-1 to Rutgers on Wednesday (Oct. 6) at Yurcak Field. The match was a makeup contest after the originally scheduled match on Sept. 23 was canceled due to inclement weather.

In a battle of the last two unbeaten teams in the conference, Michigan (8-2-3, 2-1-2 Big Ten) found its footing early on and was off to a flying start. Against the run of play in the 26th minute, Rutgers (10-2-0, 5-0-0 Big Ten) got on the board first. A poorly-struck shot from Kylie Daigle at the top of the box found Gabby Provenzano on the far post at the top of the six, and she finished lower-left as the match was off to a 1-0 scoreline.

Nearly 10 minutes later, in the 35th, the Wolverines found the deserved equalizer. Sophomore Sammi Woods drew a foul 20 yards out at the top-right center of the box. Junior Hannah Blake took the set-piece and beat the Rutgers wall and goalkeeper near-post to run the match level at 1. The goal was her third of the season.

Tweet of the Match

35' | GOAL!

Woods earns FK at the top of the box, Hannah Blake goes near post to bring us LEVEL.

1:1
#GoBlue? | #InPursuit pic.twitter.com/GEgtskRqte
— Michigan Women's Soccer (@umichwsoccer) October 6, 2021

At the break, Michigan held a 3-2 lead on shots, with Blake's marker the lone attempt on goal for the Maize and Blue.

Rutgers largely outplayed U-M in the second half and took the go-ahead marker in the 55th minute as Riley Tiernan found space on the left flank. She then dribbled into the U-M defense end and finished from a difficult angle near-post to take a 2-1 advantage.

The Wolverines did not have a shot on frame in the second half until the 81st minute, when junior Dani Wolfe had an attempt that Rutgers goalkeeper Meagan McClelland stopped.

In the final 10 minutes, Rutgers tacked on a pair of markers to run the count to 4-1 in their favor. Amirah Ali converted a penalty in the 81st minute, while Frankie Tagliaferri made it 4-1 in the 85th minute.

U-M was outshot 14-4 in the second half (16-7 in the match). Senior goalkeeper Hillary Beall was credited with four stops on the afternoon.

Michigan closes out its four-match road swing Sunday (Oct. 10) at Nebraska. Match time is slated for 11 a.m. CDT and will be broadcast nationally on Big Ten Network.