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PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Third-seeded University of Michigan earned its first Big Ten Women’s Soccer Tournament title since 1999 on Sunday with a 1-0 victory over No. 1 seed (and conference champion) Rutgers in the championship match before a record-setting crowd of 5,103 fans at Yurcak Field in Piscataway, N.J. With Sunday’s win, Michigan will be the Big Ten’s automatic qualifier into the 2021 NCAA Championship.
Senior midfielder and first-team All-Big Ten selection Raleigh Loughman scored the lone goal in the title contest at the 26:12 mark of the first half. Loughman made a run down the right side of the penalty area, racing on to a pass from Sammi Woods and, from a tight angle, slid a low shot inside the far left post.
Michigan (15-3-3) finished with a 14-9 edge in total shots, including a 5-3 margin in shots on goal and a 6-5 lead on corner kicks. The Wolverines outshot the Scarlet Knights in the first half, 10-1 (4-0 in shots on goal) before the U-M defense stood strong in the second half as RU challenged for the equalizer.
Despite its only loss in 13 regular season and tournament matches against Big Ten opponents this season, Rutgers (17-3-0) is expected to not only earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, but to receive one of the 16 national seeds for the event.
Loughman was selected as the Offensive Player of the Tournament, while her teammate and first-team All-Big Ten graduate student defender Alia Martin was named the Defensive Player of the Tournament. Martin anchored a Michigan defense that allowed just two goals in three tournament matches, with both scores coming late in the second half in the quarterfinal (vs. Penn State) and semifinal (vs. Purdue) after the Wolverines had three-goal leads in both contests.
In addition to the record attendance at Sunday’s Big Ten Tournament final, the Big Ten blazed further trails as the championship match was officiated by an all-female crew for the…
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