PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 24 Rutgers men's soccer (7-1-2, 1-1-1) earned a point on the Big Ten table with a scoreless draw at No. 8 Maryland (7-1-1, 2-0-1) on Tuesday evening in a nationally televised match on Big Ten Network.
 
The draw earned the Scarlet Knights their first point against a Top 10 team since a scoreless draw at No. 4 Indiana on Sept. 23, 2016. In two road matches this season at ranked opponents, Rutgers is unbeaten at 1-0-1 following tonight's result and the 2-1 victory at then-No. 11 Indiana on Sept. 17.
 
Rutgers junior goalkeeper Oren Asher and the Scarlet Knight defense posted their sixth shutout of the season, which is tied for second most in the NCAA, with Asher making seven saves between the pipes as his season goals-against average dipped to 0.42.
 
On a night with no offense in the box score, it was Rutgers and junior forward Jackson Temple who came within inches of breaking the stalemate in the 84^th minute, when he had the Terps goalkeeper beat on a shot from just inside the 18 after a brilliant pass from Jason Bouregy, but the attempt hit the right post square on the nose as the game-winning opportunity left a clang ringing through Ludwig Field and the crowd of nearly 1,500.
 
"We played fantastic tonight in a really tough place to play," head coach Jim McElderry said to WRSU and The Daily Targum beat reporter Chris Tsakonas following the contest. "Maryland is an excellent team. We had some opportunities that didn't go our way, and we had some injuries. It would have been easy to not be up for the challenge, but I was proud of the group that stepped up and made a big impact."
 
Temple was at it again in overtime in the 99^th minute when another Bouregy setup spung Temple for a close-range, one-on-one with the goalkeeper, who made the stop at the near post. Temple, who entered as a substitute in the first half, played 83 minutes off the bench.
 
Asher records his second seven-save shutout of the season, joining the 1-0 victory at Princeton earlier in September. He made back-to-back saves about two seconds apart in the 85^th minute to keep the sheet clean nearly a minute after Temple's woodwork shot.
 
Vincent Borden, who had played every minute of every contest this Fall, was forced to leave the match at halftime due to an injury. RU once again proved its depth and toughness with Thomas DeVizio, Hugo Le Guennec, Cole Sotack, Joey Zalinsky, and Matthew Acosta all playing the entirety of the 110 minutes to preserve the road shutout against a Top 10 team. Senior captain Pablo Avila also exited the game with an injury after 33 minutes.
 
A disciplined Maryland side only committed seven fouls to Rutgers' 18. The Terps also outshot RU, 14-9, with a 7-3 edge in shots on goal. Rutgers was not without offensive pressure, winning seven corner kicks to UMD's three.
 
Rutgers enjoys some hard-earned downtime this week during its Big Ten bye and will rest up for Penn State at home at Yurcak Field on Tues., Oct. 5 at 6 p.m. in another Big Ten Network matchup.
 
 
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