Men's Soccer Hits The Road to Open Big Ten Play

Saturday, September 17

Piscataway, N.J.

6 p.m. CT

Northwestern

Rutgers

Photo by: Ryan Kuttler/Northwestern Athletics

Men's Soccer Hits The Road to Open Big Ten Play

9/14/2022 11:36:00 AM | Men's Soccer

NORTHWESTERN MEN'S SOCCER: GAME INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	WATCH	LIVE STATS
Saturday, September 17	Rutgers	6 p.m. CT	Yurcak Field Piscataway, N.J.	B1G+	Live Stats

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Northwestern Men's Soccer heads to New Jersey to take on Rutgers (3-1-2) to begin its Big Ten season. The game will kick off at 6 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on B1G+.

Northwestern (1-3-2) enters Big Ten play on a high, after defeating Houston Baptist 2-1. Andrew Stevens scored his first goal in a Northwestern uniform off a corner kick in the 6^th minute, and first-year Jason Gajadhar doubled the lead in the 46^th minute off a Bardia Kimiavi assist. Vicente Castro assisted on both goals for his first two assists of the season and the fourteenth and fifteenth of his career. Paul Walters earned the win in his first career start in goal, making one save in 90 minutes of action.

The Scarlet Knights opened the season with a trip to Nebraska, beating Omaha (4-2) before falling to Creighton (6-1). Rutgers then returned home for two draws against Ivy League foes Princeton (1-1) and Yale (2-2). RU finished off its pre-conference slate with victories over Rider (2-1) and Albany (5-1).

Rutgers is led offensively by MD Myers, with six goals in as many games. The High Point transfer has also added two assists this season. Sophomore Matthew Acosta holds down the midfield, having started every game of his career. In his first season in Piscataway, Acosta earned unanimous All-Big Ten Freshman Team honors. Jackson Temple anchors the back line for RU, having started all six games this season and going all 90 minutes in four of them. Temple earned All-Big Ten Second Team honors in 2021 and was named a Player to Watch by the United Soccer Coaches. The Big Ten named all three players as Players to Watch in the preseason.

Northwestern and Rutgers have split the series history, with each side winning five of the ten all-time meetings. The Scarlet Knights took the most recent meeting 2-1 at Martin Stadium on October 15, 2021.

The 'Cats return home to Evanston on Friday, Sept. 23 to take on Michigan in the Big Ten home opener.