PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers men's soccer team took over first place in the Big Ten standings and won its sixth-straight game with a 1-0 victory over No. 18 Ohio State on Sunday at Yurcak Field.
Leading scorer Jason Wright (Kingston, Jamaica) scored the game-winner in the 74th minute of action taking a rebound off a saved shot by Miles Hackett (Montclair, N.J.) into the back of the Buckeye net. The Scarlet Knight defense, meanwhile, earned its second straight and sixth shutout of the season.
The win upped RU's record to 10-4-1 overall and 4-3-0 in the Big Ten as the Scarlet Knights moved atop the standings with 12 points. It is the longest wins streak for the Scarlet Knights since 1997. Ohio State had an eight-game win and 10-game unbeaten streak halted. The Buckeyes, in their first loss since Sept. 11, dropped to 9-5-1 overall and 3-2-1 in the conference.
"It was a battle. That win comes from the heart and it comes from a mindset not to lose. Ohio State is a fantastic team, but I thought our guys defensively did a great job," said head coach Dan Donigan. "I was pleased with how we responded after going up 1-0. It's great, we're working hard. You love to be here every year. We're proud of the work our players have put in and the results they have gotten on the field. It's very gratifying and rewarding for us."
Rutgers played a throw-in from the far side of the field where junior midfielder Erik Sa (Watchung, N.J.) found Wright at the top of the 18. With one tap, Wright got the ball to Hackett surging into the box for an attempt from six-yards out to the right post. Ohio State keeper Chris Froschauer made the deflection, but the ball bounced to his left leaving Wright a wide open look on goal.
Goalkeeper David Greczek (Fairfield, N.J.) made five saves in the victory, giving the junior Scarlet Knight his 13th career shutout. Froschauer made eight stops in the loss.
Rutgers ended the afternoon outshooting the Buckeyes, 16-15, and holding a 7-5 edge in corners.
The Rutgers men's soccer team has two regular season games left on the 2015 slate. RU hosts Omaha on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 1 p.m. in the regular season home finale and travels to Maryland to wrap up the regular season on Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m.
KNIGHT NOTES:
- Rutgers defeated its third ranked opponent of the season. The Scarlet Knights defeated then-No. 22 (NSCAA) Indiana, 4-1, on Sept. 20 and earned a 1-0 victory at No. 25 (CSN) Michigan on Oct. 10.
- The six-game win streak is the longest for the Scarlet Knights since RU won nine-straight in 1997. That season, Rutgers went 14-7-2 overall and won the BIG EAST title.
- Rutgers captured its 10th win of the season, the most wins by the program since 2011 NCAA season when the Scarlet Knights finished at 10-7-4 and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
- Jason Wright put away his team-leading 13th goal of the year and fourth game-winner of the year. He currently has 54 points (23G, 8A) in his career - the most points in a career since Kene Eze registered 52 points (22G, 8A) from 2011-13.
- Miles Hackett posted his third assists of the season and fifth of his career.
- With six shutouts under his belt in 2015, David Greczek captured the most shutouts since Matt Van Oekel's six clean sheets in 2006.
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