EASTON, Pa. – It might have been the Lafayette Leopards who struck first in Tuesday night's contest, but it was Jordan Hall and Miles Hackett scoring twice for the Scarlet Knights in the Rutgers men's soccer team's 4-1 victory at Oaks Stadium.

The Leopards' Ryan Goncalves opened up scoring in the 17^th minute with a mid-air kick as a throw-in was deflected into the 18, but it would be Rutgers punching back with four unanswered goals to follow for the victory.

Two minutes passed by before the game was tied up at 1-1 with Hall putting away his third penalty kick of the season and first score of the night.

With the opening half drawing to a close, Hackett registered the game-winner with one second left before the intermission. Collecting a loose ball just outside the box and firing on goal, Lafayette keeper Jack Cisneros leaped up in an attempt to punch Hackett's shot over the goal, but instead the ball went into net underneath the crossbar.



Both Scarlet Knights added in insurance goals in the second half.

Hall made it a 3-1 game off a free kick from 25 yards out into the center of the Leopard goal in the 73^rd minute and Hackett gave the game its final margin only a minute later with a Lafayette turnover leading
to a shot by the redshirt senior from six yards out into the left corner.



Both squads recorded 10 shots apiece, with Scarlet Knight goalkeeper Rafael Pereira making four saves and Joe Bruno adding a stop playing in the contest's final 10 minutes. Lafayette's Cisneros logged a pair of saves in the loss.

"It was a frantic game with a lot direct play, a lot of little throw-ins and balls in the box and Lafayette came out with a lot of energy," said head coach Dan Donigan. "We countered it and tried to keep the ball on the ground and thought we got some really good goals. It was a very helter-skelter type of game with a lot of longs balls and direct play where it's hard to get a hold of the ball, but we were able to play enough to get those chances and put the game away. I'm very pleased with the energy and effort that our guys showed on a tough Tuesday night on the road."

The Rutgers men's soccer team returns to action on "Senior Knight" on Friday, Oct. 19 in the regular season home finale with 2017 national runner-up and No. 2 Indiana at 7 p.m.

KNIGHT NOTES

• It was the most goals scored by the Scarlet Knights since downing Lafayette last Oct. 18 in a 4-1 victory at Yurcak Field.
• Jordan Hall captured his third two-goal game of the season. The Manchester, England has 26 points on the season behind 12 goals and two assists. Including his two seasons at Mississippi Gulf Coast College, he has accumulated 140 points (59 goals, 22 assists) in his career.
• Miles Hackett posted his first goals of the 2018 and the first multiple goal game of his Rutgers career. To date, the Montclair native has totaled 32 career points on 11 goals and 10 assists. He also posted four game-winning goals during his time "On The Banks".

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