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It's been almost two years since the Rutgers men's soccer team (3-2-1, 1-1 B1G) topped a ranked opponent. It seems almost that long since the women allowed a goal. Life is good around Yurcak Field these days.
Last Saturday, the men traveled to Bloomington for their first Big Ten contest. They were facing the No. 22 team in the nation. They hadn't scored themselves in their last two games. So, you know who won....yeah, the guys in red. Not crimson....red.
Four different players got into the act as the Knights opened their Big Ten season with a 4-1 victory over Indiana. Rutgers never trailed in the game as freshman Sheldon McKoy and soph Jason Wright gave RU a 2-0 lead within the first 25 minutes of play. Miles Hackett extended the lead in the first half before Erik Sa drove home his first goal of the season at the 87 minute mark. In goal, RU's David Greczek made four saves.
"It was a great 90 minutes of soccer and all-around great effort by our guys," said head coach Dan Donigan. "Fortunately for us, and unfortunately so for Indiana, our goals came today. We were able to capitalize early, but we knew that the damage we did in the first half, that Indiana was more than capable of coming back in the second half. We let them come back a little bit and they got a goal back on us, but we did a great job in managing a very good Indiana team. Obviously we are happy to get a road win and get the three points with this team effort."
Results and Upcoming Schedule
9/16/15 | at Monmouth | West Long Branch, N.J. | T, 0-0 (2OT) |
9/20/15 | at Indiana * ![]() |
Bloomington, Ind. | W, 4-1 |
9/25/15 | vs. Michigan State * | Piscataway, N.J. | 6:00 p.m. ET |
Then there are the women.....
The streak is up to eight games without yielding a goal. They are currently at No. 10 nationally with the release of today's Top Drawer Soccer's poll. and are 8-0 on the season.
The women's team (8-0, 1-0 B1G) has been this fall's standard bearer for success. The numbers on the scoreboard show it and the rankings confirm it. The latest win over Maryland was the opener of the Big Ten season for the Knights.
#RFutbol up to No. 10 in the @TopDrawerSoccer Top 25! It's the highest ranking of the season for RU. @NSCAA and @socceramerica out tomorrow.
— RutgersWomensSoccer (@RUWSoccer) September 21, 2015
Senior Samantha Valiant took care of all the scoring against Maryland in the Big Ten opener. The game-winning attack began near midfield after junior forward Madison Tiernan won a ball from the Terrapins' (5-4, 0-1 Big Ten) defense. Tiernan turned back toward the Maryland goal and pushed forward, finding sophomore Colby Ciarrocca on the far side just outside the 18-yard box. With Valliant running middle toward net, Ciarrocca pushed the ball for her in stride, as Valliant buried the shot in goal. The score was Valliant's second game-winning strike of the season.
"This was our first game in the Big Ten and getting a win in any game is hard to do," said head coach Mike O'Neill. "We're very proud of the effort the team gave from the start to the end. We're 30 strong and it showed again tonight."
Results and Upcoming Schedule
09/18/15 | at Maryland * | College Park, Md. | W, 1-0 |
09/24/15 | at Illinois * ![]() |
Champaign, Ill. | 8:00 p.m. ET |
09/27/15 | at Northwestern * | Evanston, Ill. | 12:00 p.m. ET |