BROOKLINE, Mass. – Three lead changes and four ties with each team netting a pair of goals in the match's final 12 minutes resulted in Rutgers men's soccer and Northeastern playing to a 4-4 stalemate at Parsons Field on a soggy Saturday afternoon.
The Scarlet Knights, in their final nonconference contest of the year, moved to 5-6-3 overall while the Huskies' record goes to 3-6-6 overall.
Rutgers came out on the attack generating plenty of chances early in the match. The Scarlet Knights' efforts paid off as
Matthew Acosta broke through in the 27
th minute for the first score of the contest.
However, with 10 seconds left in the first half, Northeastern evened the score up, 1-1.
The Scarlet Knights went ahead with a 2-1 lead in the 62
nd minute.
Sawyer Koza sent a pass across the net ending with
Ian Abbey sending his bicycle kick inside the near post.
Eight minutes later the Huskies knotted the match up at 2-2 with a deflection going into the net from 12-yards out and pulled in front in the 78
th minute on a header sent into the box following a corner clear.
In span of three minutes though, Rutgers tied the game up and took back the lead with players from off the bench.
Jackson Temple weaved his way across the top of the box finding the gap between a myriad of Notheastern defender at the top of the 18 into lower right corner for a 3-3 tie in the 81
st minute. The 84
th minute saw
Ola Maeland capitalize on a misplay by the Huskie defense resulting in an open goal look for a 4-3 advantage.
The scoring on the afternoon, however, was not over as Northeastern was able to poke a header thru on a scramble inside the box with less than two minutes remaining for the tie.
Goals
27' | (RU)
Matthew Acosta – unassisted
45' | (NU) Tobias Wangred – Zach Sauer & Federico Tellez
62' | (RU)
Ian Abbey –
Sawyer Koza
70' | (NU) Tobias Wangred - unassisted
78' | (NU) Mathias Hille – Federico Tellez
81' | (RU)
Jackson Temple – unassisted
84' | (RU)
Ola Maeland –
Aidan Flynn
88' | (NU) Fraser Brown – Sebastian Restrepo
Game Notes
- First all-time meeting
- Temple put away his team-leading sixth goal of the year. He also continues to lead with 16 points.
- Saturday's contest marks the first time Rutgers has scored four goals since the 2022 season opener at Omaha, when the team came out on top, 4-2.
- The 4-4 draw against Northeastern is also the most goals in a game for RU since 2018 when the team fell to Elon, 8-1.
- Acosta, Maeland and Abby all netted their third tallies of 2023. The trio is now tied for third on the squad's scoring list.
- Acosta led RU with six shots, including five on goal. Both Temple's shots were on frame.
- With Ciaran Dalton's three saves, the sophomore has now totaled 42 stops in 12 starts. He has recorded nine games with 3+ stops this fall.
- The freshmen continued to show out as Devon Stopek and Luciano Sanchez both earned starts against the Huskies. Erick Ruiz and Francsco Di Ponzio also came in off the bench for the Scarlet Knights. The group of four rookies have already collectively played 2,930 minutes on the pitch and combined for 31 starts.
- Acosta, Cole Cruthers, Ciaran Dalton and Joey Zalinski played all 90 minutes against Northeastern
Looking Ahead
Rutgers will finish the regular season at home against Indiana (6-3-4, 2-1-2 B1G) on Sunday, Oct. 29 in the rematch of the 2022 Big Ten Championship. The match will begin at 1 p.m. and is available to stream on B1G+.
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