Rutgers is Rolling
Scarlet Knights knock off a second consecutive ranked opponent with another coming up…
With four teams currently ranked in the top 10, Big Ten Men’s Soccer has impressed so far this season. Now add Rutgers to the mix, which knocked off its second ranked opponent in a row on Tuesday ahead of an action-packed weekend featuring a top-10 matchup.
Lucky No. 11
You don’t want to face Rutgers if you’re ranked 11th in the country. After the Scarlet Knights upset No. 11 UCLA last Friday, they knocked off new No. 11 Princeton at home on Tuesday to improve to 5-0 against 11th-ranked teams during head coach Jim McElderry’s tenure.
Abubaker Mayanja got the party started early for Rutgers when he scored his first career goal in the 12th minute. Willam Pierce scored for the second consecutive game late in the first to send the Scarlet Knights into halftime with a 2-0 lead. The Tigers applied the pressure in the second half, totaling seven shots and six corner kicks. But goalkeeper Rafael Ponce De Leon and the Rutgers defense stood tall, stopping four shots on goal over the final 45 minutes to preserve the 2-0 victory. More from this match .
The Scarlet Knights now get the chance to take down an even bigger fish when they face No. 3 Ohio State in Columbus on Friday night (7 p.m. ET on B1G+). The Buckeyes enter the match unbeaten with the highest goal differential (+17) in the Big Ten, thanks in large part to Isaiah Chisolm, who ranks second in the conference and third in the nation with seven goals.
Top-10 clash in College Park
The one to see in Big Ten Men’s Soccer this week is No. 7 Wisconsin visiting No. 8 Maryland Friday at 8 p.m. ET on B1G+. We’ll be interested to see how the Terps respond after being dealt their first loss of the season – a 4-0 stunner to Northwestern. The Badgers, meanwhile, are riding high. This is the highest their program has been ranked since 1996, and they’re coming off two straight games where they’ve scored a tying goal in the waning seconds of the match. You bet The Crew and the rest of Ludwig Field will be rocking for this one.
Some more intriguing matchups to watch on the pitch Friday:
- No. 2 Indiana welcomes preseason No. 1 and defending national champion Washington to Bloomington. The Hoosiers have only allowed three goals all season, but Zach Ramsey (11) and the Huskies (22) both lead the Big Ten in goals.
- After besting Northwestern 2-0 on Tuesday, No. 19 Michigan State turns its attention to Penn State. The Nittany Lions face three ranked Big Ten teams in a two-week stretch, and they’ll be looking to start off on the right foot.
See the full men’s soccer schedule here .
Photo courtesy of scarletknights.com .