Senior midfielder Laurence Wooton (8) tries to get around the Washington defense during Ohio State’s 1-1 draw against the Huskies Sep. 4. Credit: Caleb Blake | Photo Editor
The Ohio State men’s soccer team (3-4-2, 1-2 Big Ten) won 2-0 against Rutgers (2-5-2, 0-2-1 Big Ten) at Yurcak Field Friday, earning its first Big Ten conference win of the season.
In the first half, senior midfielder Laurence Wootton scored to put the Buckeyes up by one point, and sophomore midfielder Marko Borkovic secured the win with a goal in the 59th minute. Wootton’s goal was his third of the season and his second in back-to-back games.
In the first half, both teams were equal in shots taken at six. At 33:37, Buckeye junior midfielder Michael Adedokun drew a penalty in the box, allowing Wootton a successful penalty shot to give them the 1-0 lead. The penalty was a foul by Rutgers junior goalkeeper Aurie Briscoe.
The rest of the first half showed one shot on target from both teams and the game remained 1-0 at the end of the first half.
In the second half, the Buckeyes were able to get two more shots than Rutgers, bringing the total to 8-6 in Ohio State’s favor.
The tempo control led to a 2-0 lead as Borkovic scored from a header, assisted off a corner kick by senior midfielder Parker Grinstead at 59:03.
The remaining 31 minutes consisted of three yellow cards that were given out to Buckeye players as they aggressively tried to increase their lead. In total, Ohio State had five to Rutgers’ three on the night.
At the beginning of the 80th minute, Rutgers senior midfielder Jason Bouregy received the only red card of the match, forcing Rutgers to play with only 10 players.
The Buckeyes continued to stay in control after the red card to hold onto 2-0 for the win.
The Buckeyes look to secure their first back-to-back wins of the season at home as they take on Xavier Tuesday at 7 p.m.
