Rutgers Downs Penn State As Big Ten Tourney Nears

Rutgers men's soccer is starting to sizzle at the right time of the year.  The Scarlet Knights took down Penn State 2-1, Tuesday night, in the regular season home finale at Yurcak Field.

Matthew Acosta and Ola Maeland scored two first half goals to stake Rutgers to a 2-0 lead, a lead they would never relinquish. Jackson Temple assisted on both goals for Rutgers.

The victory was an impressive defensive display for the Scarlet Knights. Penn State outshot Rutgers 19-12, and had 10 corner kicks to RU's three for the game. In fact 14 of Penn State's 19 shots came in the second half. But Rutgers defense was up to the challenge, led by netminder Ciaran Dalton, who gave up one goal and recorded three saves on the night.

Rutgers got on the board in the 18th minute when Aocosta took a feed from Jackson Temple at the top of the box. He took his shot there as the ball wizzed the trickled past goalie Kris Shakes to give Rutgers a 1-0 advantage.

Some 16 minutes later, Jackson Temple worked his way out of a scrum of Penn State defenders and kicked the ball out to Ola Mealand who punched it in to give RU a 2-0 advantage.

The victory moves Rutgers to 3-3-1 in Big Ten action (5-6-2 overall). The win is significant as it moves Rutgers into fourth place in the Big Ten Standings. Penn State drops to 3-2-1 against the Big Ten.

Rutgers will travel to Brookline, Massachusetts to face Northeastern on Saturday.