Madison Tiernan, Sky Blue FC midfielder, has joined the Rutgers Scarlet Knights women's soccer team as their Director of Player Development. Tiernan played soccer for Rutgers for four seasons from 2013-2016, ending her career there with 25 goals and 16 assists in 88 career appearances.
Head coach Mike O'Neill said of Tiernan's addition to the staff, "as a player she embodied what our program is all about – hard work, determination and passion. Her experiences as a student-athlete at Rutgers and now professionally with Sky Blue will enable our current student-athletes to flourish on and off the field. Rutgers is in Madison's heart." O'Neill was the head coach for Tiernan's sophomore through senior seasons.
After an excellent senior year where she notched 11 goals and six assists, Tiernan was drafted with the 24th pick in the 2017 National Women's Soccer League College Draft by Sky Blue FC. She had an excellent rookie season, appearing in 20 games with 11 starts and totaling 1036 minutes played. On a team with excellent offensive presence, including 2017 NWSL MVP Sam Kerr, Tiernan was able to score three goals and one assist in her first season. She tied with Rachel Hill, who is currently leading the Westfield W-League in goals scored, for third-most goals scored by a rookie drafted in 2017. Only Ashley Hatch (North Carolina Courage), who scored seven goals and was named Rookie of the Year and Katlyn Johnson (Seattle Reign FC) were more successful at scoring. Mallory Pugh, who scored six goals for the Washington Spirit in her 2017 rookie season, was not selected in the draft. Of those players, only Tiernan is a midfielder.
The home stadium for Sky Blue FC, Yurcak Field, is the same field that Tiernan played her college soccer at. The 5,000 seat stadium is part of the Rutgers University campus.