Men’s & Women’s Soccer both notch Big Ten wins on Friday night

It was a successful Friday for Rutgers, as both soccer teams were victorious in Big Ten play hours after the field hockey team beat Indiana on a last minute goal.

Men’s soccer defeated Wisconsin 3-0 for its first Big Ten win of the season. It was also the first for head coach Jim McElderry. After scoreless at the break, RU took the lead when captain Jake Longo scored the first goal of his college career midway through the second half.

The floodgates then opened as Rutgers scored twice more with goals from Pablo Avila and Brendan Wall. For Avila, he scored his team leading fifth goal of the season, while Wall scored his first as a Scarlet Knight. Goalkeeper Oren Asher made two saves to preserve the shutout.

RU dominated the game, holding a 12-6 shot advantage and a 9-2 edge on corners.

Rutgers (7-3-2; 1-3-1) now faces a grueling four game road trip beginning against Hartford (7-2-3) on Tuesday night.

The no. 21 ranked women’s soccer team defeated an Iowa team (12-3; 4-3) that was ahead of them in the Big Ten standings to start the night. It was a crucial conference game in which they picked up a 1-0 result on the road.

Rutgers scored in the 17th minute when Taylor Aylmer sent a ball into the box off a corner kick and Amanda Visco headed it into the back of the net for the game winning goal. It was the second time the pair connected this way this season.

The defense camped down the rest of the way and the Scarlet Knights handed the Hawkeyes a home defeat. Goalkeeper Meagan McClelland recorded six saves for her eighth shutout this season.

Rutgers (10-2-1; 4-2) will visit Nebraska (4-8-2; 3-4-0) this Sunday at 2 p.m. The Cornhuskers just handed Maryland (7-5-3; 3-3-0) a 2-0 defeat on Friday, a team RU lost to earlier this season.