No. 9 Indiana Blasts Rutgers, 3-0

Friday, March 19

Piscataway, N.J.

1:00 PM

Indiana University

5-1-0, 5-1-0

Rutgers

3-4-0, 3-4-0

Indiana

Rutgers

3/19/2021 5:00:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Wittenbrink Tallies First-Career Brace

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 9 Indiana (5-1-0) were dominant in a 3-0 victory over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (3-4-0) at Yurack Field on Friday afternoon.

KEY MOMENTS
• Sophomore keeper Roman Celentano recorded a save in the initial stages of the match to keep the Scarlet Knights off the scoreboard. The save was one of five made on the afternoon from the reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week. He faced a total of 10 shots without yielding a tally.
• Sophomore forward Victor Bezerra curled in a right-footed strike from just outside the 18-yard box to defeat the Rutgers goalie. The game-opening tally game in the sixth minute of action.
• Redshirt sophomore forward Ryan Wittenbrink scored his first of two goals in the match in the 63rd minute to double the Hoosier lead. He let a right-footer strike go from outside the 18-yard box that screamed past the diving keeper in the bottom right corner of goal.
• Wittenbrink would strike again just 17 minutes later with his first-career brace. The Libertyville, Ill., native corralled a nifty pass from freshman forward Nate Ward and unleashed a rocket from eight yards out to beat the Rutgers defense to the right post.

NOTABLES
• The Hoosiers have scored multiple goals in all five wins this season, including three-plus goals in four matches. IU is outscoring the rest of the Big Ten foes 15-2 on the year and 34-9 over the last two regular seasons.
• In the program's last 42 Big Ten regular season matches Indiana holds a record of 31-2-9.
• Celentano earned his 15th-career victory and the fifth of his second season. In 20 career starts, the keeper has conceded just 10 goals with 11 clean sheets. He has allowed a goal or less in 95% of his career starts.
• The two goals scored by Wittenbrink were the first of his Hoosier career.
• Ward made his first career start and registered his first collegiate point (assist) in the contest.
• Redshirt sophomore midfielder Ben Yeagley also charted his first-career collegiate point with an assist in the second half.
• Indiana is undefeated (4-0-1) in the last five matches against Rutgers. The Hoosiers are outscoring the Scarlet Knights by a figure of 12-0 during that five-match span.

HOOSIER POINTS
GOALS: Victor Bezerra, Ryan Wittenbrink (2)
ASSISTS: Nate Ward, Ben Yeagley

UP NEXT
The Hoosiers are scheduled to take on the Northwestern Wildcats at 7 p.m. ET on March 23 at Jerry Yeagley Field at Bill Armstrong Stadium. The match will be broadcasted live on the Big Ten Network. All times, dates, and locations are subject to change.

@IndianaMSOC
For all the latest on Indiana University men's soccer, be sure to follow the team at @IndianaMSOC on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

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