MSOC Travels to Maryland for Regular Season Finale
Nov 03 | Men's Soccer
| Game Seventeen: No. 16 Rutgers (11-4-1, 4-3-0 Big Ten) vs. Maryland (7-5-4, 2-2-3 Big Ten) | |
| Date | Wednesday, Nov. 4 |
| Time | 7:00 p.m. EST |
| Location | College Park, Md. | Ludwig Field |
| Video | BTN Plus |
| Live Stats | Live Stats |
| Game Notes | Rutgers | Maryland |
| Statistics | Rutgers | Maryland |
...AND DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME
The Rutgers men's soccer team takes its seven-game win streak on the road to Maryland to close out the 2015 regular season with a potential chance to capture the 2015 Big Ten Regular Season Championship.
The crowning of the conference's regular season title and seeding for this weekend's Big Ten Tournament all come down to Wednesday night. For the Scarlet Knights to take home the outright title, Rutgers must defeat Maryland, league leader Ohio State will have to either lose or tie its matchup with Michigan, and Northwestern would need to fall at Wisconsin. A Rutgers win coupled by a Buckeye loss or tie and a Wildcat victory would have the Scarlet Knights sharing the regular season title with Northwestern. On the tie-break, Rutgers would claim the top seed at the tournament based on its 4-2 victory over the Wildcats on Oct. 16.
Other B1G Games To Watch:
Indiana at Michigan State - 3 p.m.
Michigan at Ohio State - 7 p.m.
Northwestern at Wisconsin - 8 p.m.
SEVEN IN-A-ROW
The Scarlet Knights are currently riding a six-game win streak. During the streak, RU has outscored the opposition, 16-4, with goals from seven different Scarlet Knights, and has outshot its opponents, 105-77.
RU is on its longest win streak since 1997, when the Scarlet Knights rattled off nine consecutive victories. That season, Rutgers went 14-7-2 overall and won the BIG EAST title.
AWAY FROM HOME
The Scarlet Knights have won five-straight road contests which started with a 4-1 upset at then-No. 22 Indiana back on Sept. 20. It is the most consecutive road wins for the Scarlet Knights since the 1993 season. RU boasts a 6-1-1 record away from the friendly confines of Yurcak Field this season.
HOME SWEET HOME
Rutgers closed out the home portion of its regular season slate on Saturday afternoon against Nebraska-Omaha with a 1-0 victory. RU went 5-3-0 at Yurcak Field, winning three-straight at home to close out the regular season.
To date, the Scarlet Knights have outscored their opponents, 20-10, and outshot the opposition, 145-77, at home.
B1G STATS
Entering the week, Jason Wright is the league leader in points (29) and goals (13) and game-winners (5).
Miles Hackett checks in tied for fourth in points (14) and goals (6), while JP Correa is tied for second in game-winning goals (3) and tied for eighth in points (13) and 10th in goals (4). Correa and Erik Sa are both tied for third in assists (5).
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
As a team, Rutgers appears in the top 10 in five national categories including ranking seventh in points per game (6.63) and scoring offense (2.25), eighth in assists per game (2.13), ninth in total points (106) and 10th in total goals (36).
Individually, Jason Wright ranks third in goals per game (0.81) and total goals (13), sixth in total points (29) and game-winners (5) and seventh in points per game (1.81) among all Division I players.
ON A ROLL
Rutgers enters Wednesday's game with one of the nation's top win streaks.
Current Streaks
1. Georgetown - 12-2-2 - W10
2. Clemson - 14-1-2 - W8
3. Rutgers - 11-4-1 - W7
4t. LIU Brooklyn - 8-5-2 - W6
4t. Seattle - 15-3-0 - W6
4t. SIUE - 10-3-1 - W6
4t. San Diego - 10-4-2 - W6
ABOUT MARYLAND
The Terps host the Scarlet Knights sporting a 7-5-4 overall mark and 2-2-3 Big Ten record. Included in the record was a 2-1 overtime victory over then-No. 1 UCLA back on Sept. 4. Most recently, Maryland is coming off a 1-0 road loss to No. 23 Ohio State on Saturday.
Sebastian Elney leads the Terps with 14 points (6G, 2A) followed by Mael Corboz with 12 points (2G, 8A).
In goal, Cody Niedermeier has recorded seven shutouts while holding down a 0.80 goals against average and .778 save percentage.
LAST TIME VS. MARYLAND
The eighth-seeded Rutgers men's soccer team's quest to make it back-to-back seasons with an upset in the conference tournament quarterfinals were dashed with host and top-seeded Maryland advancing in Big Ten Tournament action with a 2-0 win over the Scarlet Knights.
The Terps, who were ranked at No. 17 at the time, converted a penalty kick and added in another score midway through the second half to advance Big Ten semifinals against Michigan State enroute to the eventual Big Ten Championship title.
JP Correa had RU's lone shot of the first stanza. On a takeaway, Correa got loose for a look from 20 yards out that was stopped by Terp keeper Zack Steffen.
Former Scarlet Knight Thomas O'Rourke gave Rutgers two early opportunities in the second half. O'Rourke sent the ball towards the Maryland net from 30 yards out, but Maryland netminder Zack Steffen was able came up with the save. Minutes later, Jason Wright fed O'Rourke at the top of the 18, but the shot went just wide left of the Terp goal.
The Rutgers defense made several blocks and interrupted plays in the box throughout the second half, but Maryland was able to add an insurance goal in the 75th minute.
Wright had a chance late to get the Scarlet Knights onto the scoreboard, but the Terp defense denied the freshman forward in blocking his shot from the top of the 18.
Goalkeeper David Greczek ended the game with a trio of stops, while his counterpart, Steffen, made two saves on the day.
ON POINT
Jason Wright put away his team-leading 13th goal of the year and fifth game-winner of the year in RU's 1-0 victory over No. 18 Ohio State. 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.
NEWS AROUND THE NET
Goalkeeper David Greczek is currently fourth all-time at Rutgers in saves. The junior has made 245 stops since stepping foot "On The Banks".
Among all active Division I goalkeepers, Greczek ranked 10th in career saves (245) and seventh in saves per game (4.62).
The junior netminder has seven shutouts this season - Monmouth, Loyola, Michigan, Penn, Army West Point, Ohio State and Omaha - and has recorded 14.5 shutouts in his career. His seven clean sheets this season are the most since Ricky Zinter's seven shutouts in 2000.
UP NEXT
The Big Ten Men's Soccer Tournament gets under way this weekend. The top seed will host the play-in game featuring the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds on Saturday at 1 p.m. while quarterfinal action takes place on Sunday at the site of the highest seeds. Big Ten semifinals will be on Friday, Nov. 13 at the site of the highest remaining seed coming out of the quarterfinals followed by the championship game on Sunday, Nov. 15.
Follow Rutgers Athletics on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersMensSoccer) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/RUMensSoccer) for all of the latest news and updates. Fans also receive timely information, including special offers and giveaways throughout the year on both social media outlets along with www.ScarletKnights.com.
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