Rutgers has moved up the Big Ten standings with a win over Northwestern last weekend and tied their 2017 win total with a win over Lafayette this week. They will need the momentum as they have their final home game and Senior Night against #2 Indiana on Friday evening at Yurcak Field.

Jordan Hall, a junior forward who hails from Manchester, England, scored with a penalty kick with 2:10 left in the match to score the game-winner against the Wildcats. It was his 10th of the season and the score cemented him as the leading scorer in the Big Ten.

Hall also had an assist on the first goal. Brendan Wall scored at the 73:36 mark, shooting from the top right of box into the opposite corner to give Rutgers the 1-0 lead. A little over five minutes later, Northwestern tied it up with a shot from six yards out. That tie remained until Hall’s game-winner at 87:50. The tweet below from BTN has a video that contains a good scoring summary.

This past Tuesday, Rutgers fought back from a 1-0 deficit to take a convincing 4-1 win from non-conference foe Lafayette. Lafayette scored at 15:05 on a deflected throw in that was kicked in from the 18. However, from that point it was all Scarlet Knights. Miles Hackett and Jordan Hall traded off as each scored a pair of goals to take the win.

Hall scored on a penalty kick just two minutes after Lafayette to tie the game at 1-1. Miles Hackett scored the game-winner with just one second before the end of the first half. In the second half, both Hall and Hackett scored insurance goals to secure the victory.

This game had several noteworthy points. This game was the most goals scored by Rutgers in almost a year, since defeating Lafayette last October 18 at Yurcak Field. This was also Jordan Hall’s third two-goal game this season, and has a total of 26 points, coming from 12 goals, the most in the Big Ten, and two assists. Finally, Miles Hackett scored his first goal of the season and this was also his first multiple game in his Rutgers career. Hackett has a total of 32 points on 11 goals and 10 assists.

Hopefully, the Scarlet Knights can take this momentum into their final home match of the season, when they face nationally ranked Indiana. The #2 Hoosiers are undefeated in Big Ten play, and 12-2 overall. With these wins, Rutgers record is 2-4 in the Big Ten, and 4-9-1 overall.

The match is also Senior Night for the Scarlet Knights. Playing in their final game before the Rutgers faithful are goalkeeper Rafael Periera, forward Miles Hackett, and midfielder Alex Kaczynski. If you’re able be sure to head over the Yurcak Field for the 7:00 PM start.

The win over Northwestern puts them solidly in seventh place in the conference standings. This is important as if they remain in seventh place, they avoid having to play in the 8/9 play-in match when the Big Ten playoffs begin on November 3.

While we will look at the season as a whole following the season, there are definite signs of growth in this team, despite some tough losses. With only three seniors leaving the squad, the 2019 Scarlet Knights may be able to make some noise in the conference next year.