The Rutgers women’s soccer team welcomed a new conference member, the Oregon Ducks, to Yurcak field on a warm, late summer night. The approximate air miles between Eugene, Oregon, and Newark International Airport, New Jersey is 2,500. This is the new travel reality in the age of conference expansion for anyone not named Hawaii.
The Ducks entered the match 4-4, having dropped a close match this past Saturday against former Pac 12 and current Big Ten member No. 22 UCLA, 2-1. Fresh off that confidence-building performance, Oregon felt good about its chances for a positive result against a Rutgers squad on a four-game winning streak.
What transpired on the pitch was anything but competitive. The Knights would control possession from the get-go, taking an early 1-0 lead in the eighth minute as Ashley Baran intercepted a pass deep in Ducks territory and passed the ball swiftly to Tiernan, who set up a beautiful ball for Allie Post in space that she drilled past keeper Maddy Goldberg for her 4th goal of the year…