Men's Soccer Falls to No. 10 Indiana's Second Half Surge

Friday, October 25

Bloomington, Ind.

7:00 PM (ET)

Rutgers University

7-5-3, 0-5-1

No. 10 Indiana

10-2-3, 5-1-0

Rutgers

Indiana

Men's Soccer Falls to No. 10 Indiana's Second Half Surge

Oct 25 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (Oct. 25, 2019) – Rutgers men's soccer (7-5-3, 1-5-1) dropped a Big Ten match at No. 10 Indiana (10-2-3, 5-1-0) by a score of 3-0 on Friday night in front of 2,105 fans at Jerry Yeagley Field at Bill Armstrong Stadium, where the Hoosiers extended their home undefeated streak to 35 with a record of 31-0-4.

Indiana's second half markers in the 54th, 72nd and 79th minutes held up in the Hoosiers' fourth shutout of the year, which moved Indiana into first place on the Big Ten table with just over a week remaining in the regular season.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Freshman goalkeeper Oren Asher and the backline held strong for a clean sheet in the first half. Freshman back Anthony O'Donnell headed out a corner kick targeted for the near post in the 11th minute, before Asher came up with a point blank save on a volley inside the six-yard box in the 20th. Asher also stopped this bouncing rocket in the 32nd minute⬇️
Indiana was denied the first half advantage by mere inches as a shot careened off the bottom of the crossbar with 30 seconds before the break.
Rutgers earned its first two corner kicks in the opening seven minutes of the second half, the second of which saw sophomore midfielder Pablo Ávila serve a dangerous ball into the mixer and forcing a leaping punch from the Hoosier keeper.
Indiana broke through for a trio of goals in a 25-minute span. Joris Ahlinvi headed in a Aidan Morris restart, Joe Schmidt bent a 20-yard shot into the right-side netting, and Morris cleaned up a rebounded shot following a flurry in front of net.
The Scarlet Knights' best chance came in the 86th minute on a direct free kick from 20 yards out off-center, where Avila ripped a dipping shot toward the right-side top shelf. Indiana keeper Roman Celetano made his only save of the match to preserve the shutout.

STAT SHEET

The Scarlet Knights were outshot 15-7 in the match. The Hoosiers led 9-0 in the shot department at the break before posting a slight 8-7 edge in shots over the final 45 minutes.
Rutgers had seven corners compared to Indiana's two. The Hoosiers' two came in the first half, while all seven of Rutgers' came in the second.
Eight of IU's shots were on target, with Asher ending the night with five saves.
Avila paced Rutgers in shooting with three, followed by freshman midfielder Jackson Temple's pair and one each from junior midfielders Brendan Wall and Kyle Galloway.

KNIGHT NOTES

Senior midfielder Tim McQuaid made his first start of the season, playing the opening 34 minutes.
Rutgers played its first ranked opponent of the season in No. 10 Indiana. The 2,105 was also double the highest attendance number the Scarlet Knights have seen this fall.

QUOTABLE

"For 70 minutes, we executed our plan well tonight, but the game shifted when they scored their first goal on a set piece, which is disappointing. Hugo Le Guennec and the defense were good tonight." - Head coach Jim McElderry

UP NEXT

The Scarlet Knights wrap up 2019 non-conference play on Tuesday, Oct. 29 at Lehigh in a 7 p.m. kick from Goodman Stadium in Bethlehem, Pa. before hosting the regular season finale on Sunday, Nov. 3 at 3 p.m. against Penn State on Senior Day.

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- RU -