ST. LOUIS, Mo. - It was never improbable because they stuck together.
Down 1-0 and down a player, Rutgers women's soccer (11-3-5) advanced to the Big Ten Tournament Championship after defeating top-seeded and No. 4 ranked USC (15-1-3) in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals at CITYPARK, the home of MLS team St. Louis City SC.
The Scarlet Knights and Trojans drew 1-1 after 110 minutes of playoff soccer then won the penalty shootout by an unheard-of 3-0 margin after three makes by , , and and three saves by .
The Scarlet Knights qualify for their fourth Big Ten Tournament Championship, set for Sun., Nov. 10 at 1 p.m. ET (12 p.m. CT) at CITYPARK in St. Louis, Missouri against the winner of #2 UCLA and #6 Washington.
USC scored the opening goal 1:10 into the second half. Just three minutes after Rutgers went down a player due to a red card in the 49th minute, the Scarlet Knights showed what would become 61 minutes of pure fight and Jersey grit.
In the 52nd, played a long ball into USC territory. It was expertly flicked on by for , who attacked the space and slotted a right-footed shot into the side netting from a tough angle for the equalizer.
"If we were meant to lose, we would have when we were down a goal and down a player," Mason said. "We worked our butts off to get tied and stay even with them. My penalty goal represented the whole team's success and hard work."
The red card caught up toward the end of the second half as USC controlled possession and ended up outshooting RU, 13-5, during the period. But Rutgers never relented, with Mason, , , and holding the backline strong in front of Bodmer, who made eight saves overall in regulation and overtime.
Into overtime, USC continued dominating possession and outshot Rutgers, 8-0, during the 20 minutes of extra time. Bodmer made three stops in overtime to force the winning penalty shootout.
"When you go down to 10 players, you have to be confident in your defense, the habits, and the details," said head coach . "What's so important to us is the heart and the way they battle. It's been a 31 strong and next player up mentality all season long."
made three saves in the opening half, while and took shots on goal during the first 45 minutes heading into a scoreless halftime.
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