PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Rutgers men's soccer team (5-6-2, 3-3-1 B1G) scored two first half goals to defeat Penn State (7-3-3, 3-2-1 B1G), 2-1, on Tuesday night in its final home game of the regular season. Matthew Acosta and Ola Maeland scored to seal the victory while Ciaran Dalton made three saves in net.
The Scarlet Knights have now won two consecutive Big Ten contests and sit in fourth place overall in the league standings with 10 points.
After strong play from both sides to start the contest, Acosta kicked off scoring for the Scarlet Knights for a goal in the 18th minute.
It wasn't long before Maeland found the back of the net as well, scoring in the 34th minute of play to ultimately clinch the win. Jackson Temple earned assists on both goals.
The Nittany Lions scored their loan goal of the contest in the 90th minute, but it wasn't enough as the opposition fell, 2-1.
Goals
18' | (RU) Matthew Acosta – Jackson Temple
34' | (RU) Ola Maeland – Jackson Temple
90' | (PSU) Peter Mangione – Van Danielson
Game Notes
- The 2-1 win over Penn State is the second consecutive for Rutgers as they also defeated the Nittany Lions by the same score last season. The Scarlet Knights have now earned wins over PSU in back-to-back seasons four times, but the most recent two victories are the first since joining the Big Ten.
- The loss for Penn State is just its third of the season and second in Big Ten play.
- With two helpers on Tuesday night, Temple continues to pace RU with 14 points and four assists. In addition, he still leads the team with five goals.
- This is the fourth game of Temple's career that he has registered two assists, a career best.
- Maeland and Acosta both rank tied for second on the team with two scores each. Tuesday's goal is the fourth of Acosta's career and the eighth of Maeland's.
- With Dalton's three saves, the sophomore has now totaled 39 stops in 11 starts. He has recorded eight games with 3+ stops this fall.
- Curt Calov, Luciano sanchez, Temple, Acosta and Maeland all topped Rutgers with two shots each. Acosta and Maeland also put two shots on frame apiece.
- The freshmen continued to show out as Nick Collins, Devon Stopek and Erick Ruiz all earned starts against the Nittany Lions on the backline. Sanchez also came in off the bench for the Scarlet Knights. The group of four rookies have already collectively played 2,648 minutes on the pitch and combined for 29 starts.
- Collins, Ruiz, Acosta, Dalton, Cole Cruthers and Joey Zalinsky played the entire 90 minutes against PSU.
Gallery: (10-17-2023) Men's Soccer vs. Penn State
Looking Ahead
Rutgers will play its final nonconference contest of the season as the team takes the trip to Northeastern on Saturday, Oct. 21. The game will start at 1 p.m. and be available to watch on FloSports and NESN.
Follow Along
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