MADISON, Wis. — Rutgers took four shots in the first 16 minutes on Saturday night. They took their fifth at 72:21.
In the 56 minutes between them, Aidan Martinez scored the only goal of the night and Jim McElderry took half his outfield off. No. 20 Wisconsin beat the Scarlet Knights 1-0 at McClimon Soccer Complex for its first Big Ten win of the season, and Rutgers was shut out for the first time since UC Santa Barbara on Sept. 7, ending a run of six straight matches with a goal. It was the second
of three straight ranked Big Ten opponents and the first time Rutgers has lost back-to-back matches since early September.
Rutgers came in at 5-5-1 and 3-2 in the Big Ten, four days after a 2-1 home loss to No. 7 Maryland in which Farouk Cisse’s 82nd-minute goal beat a Rutgers side that had put seven shots on target. Amer Lukovic, who equalized that night, arrived leading the team with 10 points after three goals and an assist in the previous two matches. The finishing complaint read 126 shots for 18 goals coming into Saturday.
Wisconsin’s season had run in two directions. The Badgers opened 5-0 and rose to No. 7, their highest ranking since October 1996, then went five Big Ten matches against top-15 opposition without a win, drawing No. 3 Ohio State 1-1 on Matthew Zachemski’s equalizer in the final seconds, losing at No. 8 Maryland, drawing No. 2 Indiana, losing 3-0 at No. 11 Michigan State and drawing 0-0 at No. 15 Washington, the same Washington side that beat Rutgers 4-1. On Tuesday they beat Lakeland 8-0, with freshman Christopher Salazar’s hat trick helping tie the McClimon record for goals in a match. Neil Jones, in his fifth season after nine at Loyola Chicago, had sophomore Judewellin Michel in goal, and his 0.81 goals-against average was second-best in the Big Ten coming into the week. Rutgers led the all-time series 8-6-1 and won last season’s meeting 4-2 in Piscataway.
Rutgers put two shots on target, 69:55 apart.
Michel saved both.
Lineup
GK: Rafael Ponce de Leon
D: Simon Gorczowski, Devon Stopek, Nick Collins, Hector Criado
M: Pius Ssebulime, Zach Mastrodimos, William Pierce, Amer Lukovic, Francesco Di Ponzio
F: Dan Karsten
Subs: Erick Ruiz, Braxton Montgomery, Thomas Angelone, Abubakar Mayanja, Joshua Jerome, Matty Lynch, Charlie Kitch
McElderry named the same eleven for a third straight match, the side that beat Northwestern and lost to Maryland, filed again as four defenders, five midfielders and Karsten alone up top. The first change came at 32:09, 11:24 after Martinez scored, with Erick Ruiz on for Gorczowski, Braxton Montgomery for Pierce and Thomas Angelone for Karsten. That is three at once, the same as against Maryland at 29:50 and down from five in Seattle and six in Columbus. Two more followed at halftime with Abubakar Mayanja on for Lukovic and Joshua Jerome for Di Ponzio, so Rutgers started the second half with five of its starters on the bench.
The recalls came in the usual waves. Karsten, Lukovic and Di Ponzio all went back on together at 61:44 for Montgomery, Mayanja and Jerome, which left Mayanja and Jerome with 17 minutes apiece. Matty Lynch replaced Angelone and Charlie Kitch replaced Criado at 74:49, and Pierce came back on for Mastrodimos at 80:30. Four Scarlet Knights went the full 90 in Ponce de Leon, Stopek, Collins and Ssebulime, one fewer than in Columbus. Four of the five starters McElderry took off before halftime came back on.
Gorczowski did not, and finished with 32 minutes.
Jones churned in his own way. He made a double change at 27:11, Gianluca Del Priore on for Emile Kisse and Luke Van Heukelum, the Maryland transfer, for Roman Eisa, then sent Kisse back on at halftime, brought Eisa and Del Priore back at 60:20, and added Julian Kuhr at 69:41 and Arien van Mol at 79:35. Seven Badgers went the full 90, captains Ellis Jones and Will Smith among them, and Wisconsin used 15 players to Rutgers’ 18.
Martinez Scores, and Rutgers Stops Shooting
Rutgers started on the front foot and mostly on the touchline, with 12 throw-ins in the first 14 minutes. Di Ponzio had the first shot of the night blocked at 2:48, Pierce missed the frame at 9:46, and at 10:56 Criado put one toward the bottom center that Michel saved. It would be the only Rutgers shot on target for almost 70 minutes.
Wisconsin’s first chance came at 14:40, when Eisa forced Ponce de Leon into a save at the top center, and the Badgers followed it with corners at 14:51 and 17:07. In between, Lukovic shot off target at 16:16.
That was Rutgers’ fourth shot of the night.
Their fifth would come 56 minutes later.
At 20:19 Karsten fouled Joon Han, and 26 seconds later Martinez finished right-footed into the bottom center with no assist credited. Martinez is a sophomore midfielder from Austin, Minn., who came to Madison from Minnesota United’s MLS Next Pro side, and it was only Wisconsin’s second shot of the night. Rutgers answered with corners at 24:01, 28:10 and 31:50 and did not get a shot off any of them. Karsten fouled again at 29:23, and two minutes and 46 seconds later he was on the bench.
The triple change did not change the half. Joaquin Torres fouled Angelone at 33:11, and 20 seconds later Martinez forced Ponce de Leon into a second save, low and central. Montgomery gave away fouls at 34:00 and 37:34, Torres picked up his third of the half at 36:33, and Zachemski’s attempt at 40:32 was blocked. Ellis Jones fouled Di Ponzio at 44:15, and that was the half.
The halftime numbers were level on shots and nowhere near level on accuracy. Both teams had four attempts. Wisconsin put three on goal and scored with one, and Rutgers put one on goal and scored with none. Rutgers had committed six fouls to Wisconsin’s five, and all three of its corners had come after it went behind.
Wisconsin had put all three of its shots on target in the first 34 minutes.
They would not put another on target.
Seven Shots in 14 Minutes, and One Reaches Michel
Jones restored Kisse at the break. McElderry, with five starters on the bench, got nothing from the group that opened the half. Criado fouled at 45:59, Rutgers won a corner at 49:59, Han and Isaac Brown Samper gave away fouls at 52:38 and 54:01, and Rutgers was caught offside at 54:50. Kisse and Ellis Jones added fouls at 56:03 and 59:33. The eleven that started the second half played 16:44 together and did not take a shot.
Jones sent Eisa and Del Priore back on at 60:20. Eighty-four seconds later McElderry undid his halftime changes and one of his first-half ones, and the starters needed time to find the game again. Collins fouled at 62:01, Brown Samper fouled Angelone at 62:57, Del Priore fouled Karsten at 65:59 and Rutgers won a corner at 66:58. Eisa was whistled for a foul on Ponce de Leon at 69:14.
At 72:21 Lukovic shot off target, Rutgers’ first attempt since his own at 16:16 and 10:37 after he had come back on. Karsten had two blocked in eight seconds at 73:42 and 73:50, Martinez fouled him at 74:37, and on the corner that followed McElderry sent Lynch and Kitch on. Di Ponzio shot off target at 74:54, Torres picked up his fourth foul at 75:29 and Rutgers won another corner at 75:59. Four shots in under three minutes, and none of them reached Michel.
At 80:30 Pierce came back on for Mastrodimos. At 80:51 he got a shot away toward the bottom center, and Michel saved it.
Pierce had been back on the field for 21 seconds.
The match got scrappy from there. Zachemski was booked for unsporting behavior at 81:45. At 82:43 Lynch was called for a foul on Michel, and Lynch and Kuhr were both booked for unsporting behavior on the same stoppage.
Rutgers’ last push came in a 94-second burst of three corners at 85:02, 85:27 and 86:36. Ssebulime had an attempt blocked at 85:14 and Stopek shot off target at 85:51. Zachemski took all three of Wisconsin’s second-half shots, at 84:05, 86:36 and 88:06, and none of them was on target. The Badgers then won three corners in the last two minutes, at 88:14, 88:38 and 89:50, Stopek fouled Zachemski at 89:14, and Rutgers left Madison muted.
In the second half Rutgers took seven shots, put one on target, won seven corners and scored none. Wisconsin took three shots, put none on target, committed nine fouls and did not need to.
Rutgers comes home foe Indiana at Yurcak Field on Friday, Oct. 16, at 7 p.m. The Scarlet Knights then visit Penn State on Oct. 20, host Michigan on Oct. 23 and close the regular season at Michigan State on Oct. 30, the side that beat Wisconsin 3-0. Four regular-season matches remain, all of them in the Big Ten, and Rutgers is 3-3 in the league going into them.
The season numbers now read 5-6-1 overall and 3-3 in the Big Ten, with 137 shots and 18 goals for a conversion rate of 13.1 percent, 54 shots on goal, 71 corners, 154 fouls, 23 yellow cards and no red cards. Rutgers has now been shut out four times, and three of those have been 1-0 losses, to Seton Hall, UC Santa Barbara and Wisconsin. Ponce de Leon has made 39 saves and conceded 14 goals across 12 matches. Three of those saves, and one of those goals, came Saturday.
On Tuesday, one goal from seven shots on target was not enough against Maryland. On Saturday, two shots on target did not produce the one.
Indiana is six days away. Yet another marquee Indiana matchup for Rutgers, but can they flip the script?
