Skip to content
Sports

Toppled Terrapins: Rutgers men's soccer upsets No. 10 Maryland, ends 4-game losing streak in style

Senior defender Aidan Flynn scored his 1st career goal in the 3-1 win over Maryland on Tuesday night. – Photo by Lucas Tang

For the last time at Yurcak Field on Busch campus in 2024, the Rutgers men's soccer team defeated Maryland 3-1 on Tuesday night. The Scarlet Knights (5-9-2, 2-6-1) ended their four-game winless streak in style, handing the Terrapins (8-3-5, 5-2-2) their second straight defeat.

It was Rutgers' second-ranked win of the season after defeating then-No. 8-ranked Wisconsin on the road in early October. As for No. 10 Maryland, a team ranked as high as No. 2 in the country last week after going 12 games undefeated, has now lost back-to-back games and seems to have lost its chance at a regular season Big Ten title.

Early chances for the home team came from sophomore defender Devon Stopek, who came inches away from scoring his first collegiate goal but dipped his shot over the crossbar, and senior midfielder Curt Calov, who blasted a free kick right into the hands of Terrapins goalkeeper Laurin Mack.

Maryland took until the 24th minute to create a clear-cut chance, but Jace Clark's headed effort hit the side netting, much to the delight of junior goalkeeper Ciaran Dalton and the Knights backline.

Rutgers was gifted a golden opportunity to open the scoring seconds before halftime. Senior forward Nico Rosamilia was taken down in the box by a Terrapin defender, and he won a penalty for his side. Junior forward Ian Abbey sent Mack the wrong way and placed his penalty kick into the bottom left corner for his 2nd goal of the season. Abbey's 1st goal of 2024 also came from the spot in the 3-1 win over Princeton back in August.

After 45 minutes of play, the Knights had a 1-0 advantage and were halfway to a statement win.

Maryland almost scored a stunner of a goal from Colin Griffith in the 53rd minute, but his strike flew over the crossbar. Six minutes later, Matias De Jesus' low but powerful shot was pushed away by Dalton.

Despite the Terrapins' second-half push, Rutgers scored again in the 63rd minute. It was a well-worked goal — off a corner kick, Abbey switched the play over to Calov, who struck the ball, which was redirected by Rosamilia and into the back of the net. It was Rosamilia's 3rd goal of the season and Calov's second assist.

The Knights began to park the bus and defend their 2-goal lead, but Maryland cut the deficit to 1 with a goal from De Jesus in the 72nd minute.

The Terrapins' frustration from trailing showed in the 87th minute when Mack pushed sophomore midfielder Francesco Di Ponzio, giving Rutgers its second penalty of the night. Senior defender Aidan Flynn buried the penalty for his 1st career goal, giving the Knights some breathing room in the final 3 minutes of play.

"It feels great obviously, but anyone on our team could have done that," Flynn said on the goal. "I really gotta thank my coaches and my teammates and whoever suggested that I take it because I just got to be the lucky guy to take it."

Rutgers will play Michigan State on the road on Sunday to close out the regular season. The game will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus.

"I'm really excited for the guys," said head coach Jim McElderry. "Tonight, I feel like they got what deserved — they played really hard from the kickoff, and I thought they deserved this win, and I'm really proud of them."


For more updates on the Rutgers men's soccer team, follow @TargumSports on X.

To view more of Matthew Mangam's work, follow @MatthewMangam on X.


Related Articles


Join our newsletterSubscribe