Chaos in Columbus as Men’s Soccer Secures a Massive Upset Over Ohio State 2-1

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State had conceded two goals in six matches this season. Rutgers scored two in 29 minutes.

The Scarlet Knights beat the third-ranked Buckeyes 2-1 on Friday night at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, with Braxton Montgomery equalizing at 25:16 and Joshua Jerome finishing a William Pierce ball at 54:14 for what held up as the winner. It was Rutgers’ second Big Ten match of the year and its second Big Ten win, it was the first loss of Ohio State’s season, and it came on the Buckeyes’ Connor Senn Match and First Responders Appreciation night.

Rutgers came in at 3-3-1 and playing the best soccer of Jim McElderry’s eighth season. They have been on a roll with since they have beaten No. 11 UCLA 3-1, No. 11 Princeton 2-0 and now No. 3 Ohio State. That is three straight wins over ranked opposition, and the third was against the highest-ranked team Rutgers has faced all year. The finishing that went missing in early September has not entirely fixed itself, however the margins have moved with 79 shots for 10 goals through seven matches, then seven shots for two goals on Friday.

Ohio State arrived 5-0-1 and unbeaten under Brian Maisonneuve, with four consecutive shutouts to open the season and a 1-1 draw at No. 8 Wisconsin on Sept. 11 in which the Badgers equalized in the final seconds. The Buckeyes did it while missing senior forward Isaiah Chisolm, whose seven goals rank second in the Big Ten and who did not play Friday, leaving Maisonneuve to build through the wide areas with senior captain Andre Roberts pushing from the back. Roberts got the assist on Ohio State’s goal. He also watched a teammate get sent off.

The match was chippy without being ugly for most of an hour, 24 fouls in all, 14 of them Rutgers’. Then it turned. Hector Criado was booked at 18:39, Joel Demian was sent off for Ohio State at 62:30, and Erick Ruiz picked up a yellow at 89:37 for the sort of foul a team leading by one commits on purpose.

Ohio State did not put a shot on goal after halftime.

GK: Rafael Ponce de Leon

D: Simon Gorczowski, Devon Stopek, Nick Collins, Hector Criado, Erick Ruiz, Braxton Montgomery

M: Pius Ssebulime, Zach Mastrodimos, Francesco Di Ponzio

F: Abubakar Mayanja

Subs: Jeffrey Bryjak, William Pierce, Dan Karsten, Thomas Angelone, Joshua Jerome, Amer Lukovic, Dylan Carlson, Charlie Kitch

Those are the roster designations the box score carries, not the shape. Six listed defenders and one listed forward is a bookkeeping artifact, not a back six, and Montgomery, who is filed as a defender, scored the equalizer. The more useful read is who was on the field and for how long.

The substitution pattern that has defined McElderry’s month escalated again. Tonight, it was six, all at 26:51, 95 seconds after Montgomery had equalized with Lukovic for Montgomery, Pierce for Mayanja, Karsten for Ruiz, Angelone for Di Ponzio, Jerome for Criado, Bryjak for Gorczowski. Rutgers changed more than half its outfield players while level with the third-ranked team in the country, and the two players who ended up scoring the goals in this match were each involved in that swap on one side or the other.

The recalls came in waves. Mayanja and Gorczowski both came back on at 45:00, Gorczowski going on to play the entire second half for 72 minutes on the night. Montgomery, Di Ponzio and Ruiz all returned together at 61:32. Montgomery, off at 26:51 and back at 61:32, finished with 55 minutes in two separate shifts and a goal in the first one. Five Scarlet Knights went the full 90: Ponce de Leon, Stopek, Collins, Ssebulime and Mastrodimos.

Maisonneuve churned too, with a double change at 31:48, three at halftime and three more at 68:03, and by the end he had used all six of his substitutes while a man down.

The opening 20 minutes were fouls and not much else. Nick Collins gave one away at 0:48, Josue Youta at 8:08, Martin Wurschmidt at 10:31, Collins again at 11:26. Rutgers did not register a shot until 18:18, when Simon Gorczowski forced Patrick McLaughlin into a save at the bottom right corner. Fourteen seconds later Criado fouled, and seven seconds after that he was booked.

Ohio State scored at 22:03. Roberts found Aaron Hurge, who put the Buckeyes ahead, and for the next three minutes the pattern of the Rutgers season looked like it was holding with a good defensive shift, an opponent’s first real chance converted, and no reply.

Then Rutgers replied.

Francesco Di Ponzio got a shot away at 25:13 that did not reach McLaughlin. Three seconds later Montgomery put the rebound high and to the right and it was 1-1. Ninety-five seconds after that, Montgomery was on the bench with five teammates, showing that Jim McElderry does not deter from his substitution strategy.

The reshuffled side spent the rest of the half defending. Ohio State took its last three first-half shots in a four-minute stretch, all of them on target, all of them saved by Ponce de Leon with Ryan Hannosh at 35:48, Hannosh again at 36:34 and Jack Wayne at 39:46. Rutgers won corners at 42:25 and 43:06 and got one shot from Thomas Angelone at 42:53 that went out top right.

The halftime numbers were even in shots and lopsided in accuracy. Both teams had four attempts. Ohio State put all four on goal and scored once. Rutgers put two on goal and scored once. Rutgers had committed eight fouls to Ohio State’s five and had taken the only offside call of the half against itself at 33:03.

Ponce de Leon had made three saves.

He would not make another.

McElderry restored two starters at the break, bringing Mayanja on for Karsten and Gorczowski on for Lukovic. Maisonneuve made three of his own, one of which was Demian, a defender who would last 18 minutes.

Rutgers started the half the better side. Mayanja forced McLaughlin into a save at 49:42, Rutgers won a corner at 50:40, and Collins put an attempt over the top at 51:16. At 54:14, Pierce played in Joshua Jerome, who finished low to the right. Jerome had been on the field for 27 minutes and had taken one shot all night.

It was the only one he needed.

Ohio State responded the way a No. 3 team should and got nothing for it. Roberts shot at 55:53. Nyle Waugh hit the left post at 56:55. Christian Baumgartner dragged one out top right at 59:17. Three attempts in four minutes, none on target, one off the woodwork, and then the match turned for good at 62:30 when Demian fouled and was shown a straight red.

McElderry answered the red card by restoring his starters rather than by protecting the lead with fresh legs, sending Montgomery, Di Ponzio and Ruiz back on together at 61:32, a minute before the sending off. Maisonneuve went the other way at 68:03 with three attacking changes, and for the last 28 minutes Ohio State played 10 against 11 and pushed.

This stretch produced four corners, at 71:49, 81:43, 82:33 and 89:43, and three shots, from Youta at 70:17, Youta again at 81:23 and Wurschmidt at 88:12. None of the three were on target. Ohio State finished the night with 10 shots to Rutgers’ seven and four shots on goal to Rutgers’ four, and every one of those four came before halftime.

Rutgers took three shots in the second half, put two on target and scored one. That is the whole story of a season’s worth of finishing complaints inverted in 45 minutes.

Amer Lukovic came on for Mayanja at 73:56, Dylan Carlson for Di Ponzio at 84:02, Charlie Kitch for Montgomery at 89:37. Ruiz took his yellow at 89:37 as well, Ohio State took a corner at 89:43, and that was the match, thus creating Chaos in Columbus.

Rutgers goes to Seattle next to face Washington on Sept. 25 with a 10:30 p.m. kickoff, then returns to Yurcak Field for Northwestern on Oct. 2 and Maryland on Oct. 6. The Big Ten schedule does not get easier from here, but it no longer needs to be survived. Rutgers has had three statement wins in a row, and has no reason to stop there.

The season numbers now read 4-3-1 overall and 2-0 in the Big Ten, with 86 shots and 12 goals for a conversion rate of 14.0 percent, 33 shots on goal, 42 corners, 106 fouls, 19 yellow cards and no red cards. Ponce de Leon has played all 719 minutes of all eight matches, has made 26 saves and has conceded seven goals. Three of those saves and one of those goals came Friday.

Ohio State had not lost all year and needed 10 shots to score once.

Rutgers needed seven to score twice.