PISCATAWAY — The college careers of local standouts Gia Girman and Kylie Daigle came to an end when the Rutgers women’s soccer team lost to UConn, 2-1, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night at Yurcak Field. Chioma Okafor and Lucy Cappadona scored six minutes apart in the first half and the Big East champion Huskies (14-4-4) held on over the second 45 minutes to send the Scarlet Knights (11-5-5) to a third straight first-round exit since their run to the College Cup in 2021. Freshman Alyssa Martinez knocked in her first career goal in the 70th minute to give sixth-seeded Rutgers life, but it couldn’t crack the Huskies’ defense or goalkeeper Kaitlyn Mahoney (six saves). The Scarlet Knights were coming off a runner-up finish in the Big Ten Tournament, but were shorthanded for the NCAA Tournament opener with star forward Riley Tiernan serving the second match of a two-game suspension following her red card against USC in the Big Ten semis. Rutgers started well with Daigle forcing a Mahoney into a save from a deflected free kick, but the chances dried up after the promising start and UConn pounced on a giveaway to spring Okafor on a breakaway for her 13th of the season. Cappadona looped a header from a corner kick over goalkeeper Olivia Bodmer in the 37th minute to give the visitors a 2-0 lead. Daigle, the former Pennington School standout, making her first career start started the move on the Rutgers goal when she played the ball out wide to Reilly McGlinn, who sent in a cross that was redirected by Shaela Bradley into the path of Martinez. Girman, the former three-time CVC Player of the Year from Nottingham, played 80 minutes and attempted one shot in her final college game. UConn faces third-seeded Stanford in a second-round match that will be played on the campus of second-seeded Arkansas.