With five games remaining in its 2026 regular season, No. 2 Indiana men’s soccer returns to Big Ten play against Rutgers on Friday. The Hoosiers will travel to Yurcak Field in Piscataway, New Jersey, for a 7 p.m. showdown.
Indiana knocked off two nonconference opponents last week, with wins over the University of Kentucky and Division III Hanover College. The Cream and Crimson defeated the Wildcats after falling behind in the 19th minute and trailing at halftime for the first time all season.
Senior forward Oliver Moller-Jensen rescued Indiana with three second half goals over 12 minutes of game time. Three days later, Moller-Jensen provided a 15th-minute goal against Hanover.
The Hoosiers scored seven against the Panthers on Oct. 9, including four from senior forward Collins Oduro.
The back-to-back nonconference victories extended Indiana’s win streak to four and provided momentum ahead of Friday’s matchup against Rutgers. The Hoosiers have racked up 14 wins in the pair’s all-time series, including an 8-1-2 record in New Jersey. Indiana’s last loss came in 2022, falling after conceding two second half goals.
Scarlet Knights have upset ability
Rutgers enters the matchup with a 5-6-1 overall record and a 3-3-0 mark in Big Ten play.
“They're more impressive the more we've watched on video,” Indiana head coach Todd Yeagley said in a press conference Wednesday. "I think it's going to be a really tough challenge... Everyone at home is obviously a little bit more comfortable.”
The Scarlet Knights have already knocked off two ranked teams at Yurcak Field this season. They defeated then-No. 11 UCLA 3-1 on Sept. 11 before taking down then-No. 11 Princeton University 2-0 on Sept. 15.
Rutgers carried its strong play into a Sept. 18 showdown at then-No. 3 Ohio State, defeating the Buckeyes in a comeback victory after giving up a goal in the 23rd minute.
However, the Scarlet Knights began struggling in Big Ten play October. After defeating Northwestern on Oct. 2, they suffered consecutive one-goal defeats to then-No. 7 Maryland and then-No. 20 Wisconsin.
“I think we're going to get the best version of Rutgers, which is a really good team,” Yeagley said. “We just got to be able to if we can play certainly in our upper tier.”
Graduate student midfielder Amer Lukovic leads the team in the attack. His three goals and 10 points lead the Scarlet Knights’ lackluster offense in both categories. Rutgers ranks ninth in the Big Ten averaging of 1.5 goals per game and 11.42 shots per contest.
The Scarlet Knights make up for their lack of offense on the defensive side of the field. They have allowed 1.17 goals per game, but graduate student goalkeeper Rafael Ponce de Leon is second in the conference with 37 saves.
Ponce de Leon transferred from Northwestern in the offseason, where he started all 16 games with the Wildcats in back-to-back seasons. The New Jersey native recorded a six-save shutout against Indiana last season, which Yeagley wants the Hoosiers to overcome Friday.
“He's a nice keeper,” Yeagley said. “We'll try to exploit and get after where we think we can against him, but he has very little. He's a pretty complete keeper.”
Hoosiers look to carry offensive momentum
Oduro, Moller-Jensen, plus senior forwards Clay Murador and Bennett Painter combined for Indiana’s seven-goal total against Hanover.
Indiana started Big Ten play with three straight one-goal outings — resulting in two wins and one draw against then-No. 12 Wisconsin on Sept. 22 — before a two-goal then three-goal performance against Penn State and Maryland, respectively.
Oduro’s four-goal performance against Hanover also helped the fourth-year Indiana player break out of a slump in the final third.
“If I was to say ‘Let's get a player to get a goal,’ it'd be Collins because he's been close,” Yeagley said postgame. “He's had goalies stand on their head. He's had posts. He's had blocks. He needed to see the ball hit the back of the net.”
Yeagley compared Indiana’s former forward Victor Bezerra’s 2021 season to Oduro’s 2026 campaign. Bezerra recorded two goals against Division III Trine University after a slow start to the season. He then produced four goals over the final 11 games of the season, including two in the NCAA Tournament.
Against Hanover, Oduro only recorded his fourth start this year after an undisclosed injury coming into the season. His four goals now rank third on Indiana this season, behind Moler-Jensen's 10 and junior forward Easton Bogard’s five.
Yeagley has also seen an uptick in his squad’s defensive abilities compared to last season’s NCAA Tournament team.
“We're defending better,” Yeagley said Tuesday. “We're giving up way less goals.”
The Hoosiers have allowed just 0.54 goals per game — the least in the Big Ten — and haven’t allowed more than one goal in a contest this season. Junior goalkeeper Michal Mroz has continued his performance, and his five clean sheets are tied for first in the conference.
The Hoosiers and Scarlet Knights are set to kickoff at 7 p.m. Friday. Coverage will be available on B1G+.
Follow reporters Noah Boudouris (@noahboudouris and nboudour@iu.edu) and Sean McAvoy (@sean_mc07 and semcavoy@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s soccer season.
