Madness in Madison: Rutgers men's soccer knocks off No. 8 Wisconsin in dramatic fashion for 1st Big Ten win
Friday night soccer in Madison, Wisconsin, certainly did not disappoint.
The Rutgers men’s soccer team came from behind to win 3-1 against Wisconsin, its first Big Ten victory of the season. The Scarlet Knights (4-5-2, 1-2-1) and the Badgers (6-3-1, 1-3-1) both played down a man toward the end of the game in what was an intense contest from start to finish.
After being held scoreless in the 3-2 loss to Indiana, Dean Boltz wasted no time scoring against Rutgers. Junior goalkeeper Ciaran Dalton pushed away a pass played across the face of the goal, but the rebound fell right to the feet of Boltz, who blasted the ball with his weak foot into the top of the net for his 9th goal of the season, the most in the Big Ten.
About 5 minutes later, senior midfielder Curt Calov curled his free kick low to the bottom right corner of the goal, but No. 8 Wisconsin goalkeeper Matisse Hébert did well to parry the shot away.
In the 30th minute, the Badgers had a dangerous counter-attacking chance, with Boltz forcing Dalton into a low save to keep it a 1-goal game.
About 2 minutes later, a Calov shot was saved by Hébert, but the rebound fell right to freshman forward Matty Lynch, who came inches away from scoring his 1st career goal as his shot was cleared off the line by a scrambling Wisconsin defense.
At halftime, the Badgers remained in front 1-0, but the Knights had a slight advantage offensively. Both sides registered eight shots, but Rutgers put five on target, one more than Wisconsin.
Early in the second half, the Badgers had a shot blocked, but after video review, the referee deemed that a Knight touched the ball with his hand on the block. Up stepped Boltz with a golden opportunity for his 10th goal of the season, but Dalton went the right way to dramatically save the penalty.
Approximately 8 minutes later, it was Rutgers’ turn to benefit from the refereeing. A Wisconsin defender committed a foul in the box, and the Knights were awarded a penalty. Calov did not waste the opportunity, sending his shot into the right corner for his 5th goal of the season in the 58th minute. The goal ended a six-game scoring drought for Calov, with his last goal coming in the 2-0 road win against Lehigh on September 2.
Rutgers had the momentum, and less than 1 minute later, graduate student forward Ola Maeland got on the end of a loose ball, finding himself one-on-one with Hébert. To avoid Maeland from shooting, Hébert came off his line but recklessly tackled him and was sent off with a red card.
Despite being down a man, the Badgers found the back of the net on a corner kick. Roberto Burlew did well to win the header and redirect past Dalton, but the goal was instantly called back for offsides.
Wisconsin sat back, trying to see out the draw, but the man advantage was eventually too much to handle.
In the 73rd minute, junior midfielder Nestor Cabrera played a one-time ball into the box, which deflected out to sophomore midfielder Francesco Di Ponzio at the edge of the box. Di Ponzio volleyed it into the back of the net for the go-ahead goal. It was Di Ponzio’s 1st career goal in his fourth-straight start.
The game got even crazier minutes later as Calov kicked a Badger, resulting in a second yellow card. Calov was sent off, and both teams played with 10 men for the last 15 minutes of the contest.
With the lead, the Knights parked the bus and relied on Dalton to keep his team in front. Boltz had a header tipped over the bar by Dalton, and Birgir Baldvinsson missed a golden chance, firing his shot well over the goal.
Wisconsin pushed every player forward, looking for the equalizer and Rutgers took advantage of that on a counterattack in the 89th minute. Maeland intercepted a pass in his half, sprinting forward with no Badgers in sight. He played a pass over to senior forward Nico Rosamilia, who tapped it into the back of the net for the consolation goal and his 2nd of the season.
And that was it – after so many games gone wrong for the Knights, they finally had their first statement win. The ranked win is the highest in head coach Jim McElderry's six-year tenure. It was also the team’s first ranked win since 2022 when Rutgers defeated then-No. 16 Ohio State 2-1 in the Big Ten Tournament. The Knights last ranked win in a regular season came in 2021, defeating the Hoosiers (3-3-5, 2-1-2) 2-1 on the road, who were ranked No. 11 at the time.
Next, Rutgers will travel to University Park, Pennsylvania, to play Penn State on Monday. The game will kick off at 6 p.m. and be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
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