COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State came into Thursday night having allowed seven goals in 14 matches, the fewest in the Big Ten. Rutgers did not put a shot on target until the 53rd minute.
The third-ranked Buckeyes beat the Scarlet Knights 3-0 at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. Ava Bramblett scored at 3:12. Callie Tumilty came off the bench at 22:40 and scored at 25:17, then came back on at 75:04 and added a second at 82:09. Ohio State outshot Rutgers 28-9 and put seven on target to two, Peighton Northrup needed two saves for the clean sheet, and Olivia Bodmer made four at the other end.
Three goals for the No. 3 team in the country.
It is the third straight match in which Rutgers has not scored, 270 minutes of soccer since the 3-2 win over Northwestern on Oct. 8, after a 0-0 draw with Nebraska and Saturday’s 1-0 loss on a penalty at Penn State. It is also the first time since the opener at Tennessee that Rutgers has lost by more than a goal. Five of the six losses before Thursday came by one. Thursday was not close.
Ohio State arrived 12-1-1 and 8-1-0, alone at the top of the Big Ten and third in both the coaches poll and the RPI. The No. 3 ranking is the highest in program history, and nine straight weeks in the top 10 is the longest run the Buckeyes have had. Their only loss came 1-0 to UCLA in September, the same scoreline UCLA beat Rutgers by at Yurcak. On Sunday they won 2-1 at No. 20 Purdue, where Nette-Nina Hiltunen headed in a free kick delivered by Bramblett at 6:06, Jaiden Anderson equalized at 19:58 and Elle Britt scored at 47:30 off an Amanda Schlueter pass. Sophomore Lizzie Rozmajzl, making her first career start in goal, saved Anderson’s penalty in the 71st minute.
Lori Walker-Hock’s side is built from the back. Northrup came in leading the Big Ten in goals-against average at 0.47 and in save percentage at .872. Last season the Buckeyes went 11-5-6 and reached the program’s third Elite Eight, and nine starters came back from that team.
Ohio State had never beaten Rutgers before last year. It has now done it twice in a row.
Lineup
GK: Olivia Bodmer
D: Julia Joseph, Lindsey Hailey, Morgan Hippeli, Riley Morris, Patricia Tsokos
M: Tommi Valente
F: Lilia Calvert, Reilly McGlinn, Ashley Baran, Marian Dunne
Subs: Sophia Stiles, Bea Tinoco, Olivia Russomanno, Audrey Cain, Jayme Malanda, Sarah Martinez, Amanda Thornton, Emma Johns
Mike O’Neill made one change to the eleven that started at Penn State, with Riley Morris in for Audrey Cain. Gabriela Gil did not appear for a second straight match, and neither did Dina Bojkovic, Lily Ann Phillips or Charlotte Garcia, all of whom played at Jeffrey Field.
The count landed exactly where it did against Purdue in September, with 25 changes, eight substitutes and 19 players. The first half went in four waves. Sarah Martinez and Sophia Stiles replaced Morris and Hippeli at 23:55, 82 seconds before Ohio State’s second goal. Amanda Thornton replaced Marian Dunne at 28:24, Olivia Russomanno and Jayme Malanda replaced Baran and McGlinn at 30:42, and Johns and Cain replaced Valente and Calvert at 38:17. From there to the break, Bodmer, Joseph, Hailey and Tsokos were the only starters on the field.
What changed was the interval. For four straight matches the Rutgers coach had restored his starting eleven in full at 45:00. On Thursday he brought back four, Dunne, Valente, Calvert and Baran, and left Stiles, Thornton and Malanda on. Morris never returned after her 24 minutes. Hippeli came back at 59:29, and McGlinn, who led both teams with five shots at Penn State, came back at 63:37 and finished with 49 minutes and no shots.
Fourteen more changes followed after halftime, four of them at once at 74:29. Cain and Russomanno lasted 3 minutes and 28 seconds of that wave before Valente and Calvert came back on for them at 77:57. Thornton went on at 28:24 and never came off, 61 minutes in one shift. Tsokos came off at 83:09, and the four who had gone the full 90 at Penn State became two.
Bodmer and Hailey were the only Scarlet Knights to play all 90.
Bramblett Scores in Three, and Rutgers Waits Another Forty to Shoot
Ohio State outshot Rutgers 16-1 in the first half and put four on target to none. It won four corners to none. Rutgers committed three fouls to Ohio State’s one and was flagged offside once. There were no cards. Bodmer made two saves. Northrup made none.
Ava Greco was called for a foul at 1:17, the only foul Ohio State committed all half. At 2:39 the Buckeyes won their first corner, and 33 seconds later Bramblett scored off assists from Greco and Andrea Lu to make it 1-0. Bramblett, filed as a defender in the box score, had also opened the scoring in the fifth minute against Northwestern on Oct. 3.
Ohio State won another corner at 4:45, and Hiltunen put one over the top at 5:23. Schlueter’s attempt at 7:04 did not reach Bodmer, Lu went wide left four seconds later and Jadin Bonham tried again at 7:55. After another corner at 8:09, Britt sent one over the top left at 8:36, and at 9:27 Bodmer made her first save, on a Bonham shot struck high. That was six Ohio State shots in four minutes and four seconds.
Morris was called for a foul at 11:01. Schlueter went at Bodmer again at 15:02, Ohio State won a corner at 15:45, and at 16:48 Schlueter hit the crossbar. McGlinn fouled at 18:25, and Schlueter went over the top at 22:31.
Walker-Hock made her first change nine seconds later, sending Tumilty on for Bonham at 22:40. Lu’s attempt at 23:50 did not reach the goal, O’Neill made his first two changes at 23:55, and at 25:17 Tumilty scored off assists from Britt and Lu to make it 2-0.
She had been on the field for 2 minutes and 37 seconds.
Both benches made five more changes in the next 15 minutes, and the match settled down without becoming any more even. Mia Stevens forced Bodmer’s second save at 31:49, again high. Schlueter went off at 33:30 for Riley Lijewski, and Britt and Tumilty missed over the top right and wide left 20 seconds apart, at 40:30 and 40:50.
Rutgers was flagged offside at 41:32. At 43:20 Russomanno took Rutgers’ first shot of the night, and it did not reach Northrup. Lijewski sent Ohio State’s 16th attempt wide right at 44:25.
A year ago at Yurcak, Ohio State led this fixture 3-0 at halftime. This time it was two, and the gap did not feel any smaller.
Rutgers went to the break with one shot, none on target and no corners.
Rutgers Finds the Frame Twice, and Tumilty Comes Back On to Finish It
Rutgers was better after the break, which was not a high bar. Dunne was booked at 45:21, 21 seconds after coming back on. Ohio State won a corner at 47:54, and at 52:32 Baran put Rutgers’ first shot on target of the night at Northrup, bottom center, for a save. Stiles was booked 28 seconds later.
Then came the best stretch Rutgers had all night. After Lu went over the top at 54:52, Valente’s shot at 55:38 did not reach Northrup, and Rutgers won corners at 55:41 and 56:14. Hailey went over the top at 56:33, and Joseph’s attempt at 57:13 did not reach the goal either. Three shots and two corners in 95 seconds, and nothing for Northrup to handle.
Ohio State answered at the other end. Schlueter shot at 57:33, the Buckeyes won a corner four seconds later, and at 59:26 Schlueter put her only shot on target of the night at Bodmer, high, for a save. Walker-Hock brought Bonham back on for Tumilty three seconds later, and O’Neill sent Hippeli back on for Joseph on the same stoppage.
Joseph and McGlinn returned at 63:37, Mia McSweeney went over the top at 64:25, and Tinoco and Martinez came on at 67:26. Thornton was booked at 69:47, and Bonham went over the top at 71:02.
At 74:00 Britt hit the left post. Four seconds later Schlueter went over the top. O’Neill made his four changes at 74:29, Walker-Hock sent Tumilty back on for McSweeney at 75:04, and Tsokos fouled at 77:03. At 77:14 Bramblett went top left and Bodmer saved it.
It was the last save Bodmer made.
Russomanno went wide right at 77:37, Rutgers changed three more at 77:57, and Calvert’s attempt at 78:29 did not reach Northrup. Joseph fouled at 81:00, and Rutgers was flagged offside at 81:41. At 82:09 Bonham found Tumilty, and Tumilty scored her second of the night, seven minutes and five seconds into her second shift. Bonham went off on the same whistle. For the record, she played exactly 22 minutes and 40 seconds in each of her two shifts.
Rutgers kept pushing anyway. Baran shot at 82:33, Rutgers won corners at 82:40 and 83:09, and at 83:15 Thornton went top and Northrup made her second save. Britt shot at 83:51 and Schlueter at 86:30, Ohio State won a corner at 86:34, and Britt’s last attempt went over the top right at 87:22. The final two and a half minutes passed without a shot from either side.
Rutgers took eight shots in the second half and put two on target. They won four corners to Ohio State’s three, committed six fouls to two and took all three of the match’s yellow cards. Ohio State took 12 shots, put three on target and scored once. Bodmer made two saves. Northrup made two.
Rutgers falls to 4-7-4 overall and 3-6-1 in the Big Ten, still on 10 points with two matches left. Rutgers has scored 16 goals and conceded 21 through 15 matches. The shot count that flattered this team for most of the fall, 187-179 in their favor coming in, now reads 207-196 the other way. Bodmer’s four saves take her to 72 for the season. Ohio State moves to 13-1-1 and 9-1-0.
There is a version of Thursday the Scarlet Knights can take something from. They held Schlueter, the country’s leader in game-winning goals, without a goal or an assist on eight shots, which ended a six-match points streak. They had their best spell of the night two goals down to the best team in the conference, and both of their shots on target came after the break.
And there is the version on the scoreboard. Nine shots against 28. Two on target against seven. No shot of any kind until the 44th minute, and a third straight match without a goal.
Rutgers goes to Indiana on Sunday, Oct. 25, at Bill Armstrong Stadium in Bloomington. Then the regular season closes against Maryland at Yurcak Field on Friday, Oct. 30.
Two matches remain, and Rutgers needs a goal before they needs anything else.
Three goals for No. 3 Ohio State.
Three matches without one for Rutgers.