Beasts from the East
Maryland wins its third top-10 matchup of the season, and Rutgers makes it three straight ranked victories
Maryland’s third top-10 win of the season and another — that’s right, another — Rutgers upset highlighted Friday night’s Big Ten Men’s Soccer action. Monday and Tuesday will also feature matchups that bring together some of the Big Ten’s standout performers so far this season.
Terps top the Badgers at home
Behind Said El Eyssami’s header and a five-save shutout from Laurin Mack, No. 8 Maryland defeated No. 7 Wisconsin 1-0 in a top-10 showdown on Friday night.
El Eyssami’s goal came in the 49th minute off a cross from Ljubomir Popovic to send the 5,107 fans in College Park into a frenzy. Behind the boisterous Ludwig Field crowd, the Terps kept the Badgers off the scoreboard to notch their third top-10 win of the season already and hand Wisconsin its first loss this year. The victory also extends two notable streaks for Maryland: the program is now unbeaten in its last seven regular season matches against ranked opponents and has won 13 straight regular season home contests. More from the Terrapins .
Maryland next hosts UCLA, while Wisconsin turns around quickly for another top-10 matchup with No. 2 Indiana on Tuesday (more on that in a bit).
Three ranked wins in a row for Rutgers
Just 10 days ago, Rutgers was sitting with a record of 1-3-1 and staring at three consecutive ranked matchups ahead on the schedule. Fast forward to now, and the Scarlet Knights are one of the hottest teams in college soccer. Rutgers completed its trio of ranked wins with the biggest one yet: a 2-1 upset victory over No. 3 Ohio State in Columbus.
The Buckeyes scored first in Friday night’s tilt when Andre Roberts connected with teammate Aaron Hurge in the 23rd minute, but you can’t keep Rutgers down right now. Just three minutes later, Braxton Montgomery evened the score on the first goal Ohio State has allowed in the first half this season. Josh Jerome tacked on the eventual game-winning goal in the 55th minute, and the Scarlet Knights held the line to earn the triumph. Read more .
Both teams have the defending national champion Washington Huskies next on their schedules, starting with the Buckeyes on Monday.
Big Ten’s top scorers meet in Columbus
When No. 3 Ohio State and Washington meet on Monday, we’ll have an opportunity to watch the Big Ten’s two leading scorers go head-to-head. The visiting Huskies are fifth in the nation with 22 goals scored. Half of those have come from star midfielder Zach Ramsey, who leads the Big Ten and the entire country in goals (11) and points (24). Ohio State — second in the conference with 20 goals — will counter with Isaiah Chisolm. In his first year as a Buckeye, Chisolm ranks second only to Ramsey in the Big Ten with seven goals and 14 points.
Tune in to Big Ten Network Monday at 7 p.m. ET to see if fireworks go off between these two offenses and their star players.
The next top-10 matchup
On the flip side, defense could be the story when No. 2 Indiana and No. 7 Wisconsin tangle on Tuesday in Madison.
Behind a stout defense that has allowed the fewest goals in the Big Ten (three), the Hoosiers remain the only undefeated team in the conference after the Badgers’ loss to Maryland. Indiana goalkeeper Michal Mroz leads the conference with a 0.38 goals against average and .875% save percentage and is also tied for the most shutouts in the nation with five.
Wisconsin has been just as tough to score against. Backstopped by Judewellin Michel and his 0.57 GAA and .840% save percentage (both second in the Big Ten), the Badgers have only allowed four goals in seven contests this year.
See how this top-10 battle unfolds Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network.
Check out the full men’s soccer schedule here .
Photo credit: umterps.com .