CHICAGO, Ill. (October 10, 2009) – The Rutgers men’s soccer team (5-6-0, 3-4-0 BIG EAST) dropped a BIG EAST road match at DePaul (7-5-0, 4-3-0 BIG EAST) on Saturday afternoon. It was the second of a three-match road trip for the Scarlet Knights which concludes on Tuesday, Oct. 13 at Brown.
DePaul broke a scoreless tie and delivered the eventual game-winner in the 27th minute when the squad’s leading scorer, Steffen Vroom, connected on a pass from Alex Mangan to give the Blue Demons a 1-0 lead.
“[Steffen] Vroom is a very good player and we made a mistake in the back which he capitalized on,” said head coach Bob Reasso, on DePaul’s winning goal. “I thought we played really well for the 90 minutes, particularly in the last 45 minutes, we were the far better team.”
The Scarlet Knights outshot the Blue Demons 8-4 and also maintained an edge in corner kicks 5-4. Sophomore goalkeeper Alex Morgans (Jackson, N.J.) made his second-straight start of the season, saving a pair of shots.
“To hold DePaul to four shots on their own ground is a good thing,” said Reasso. “We’re just struggling to get goals. We seem to get crosses in and get opportunities but we just can’t hit the target and finish our chances.
Offensively, the Scarlet Knights kept DePaul on its heels, putting five of their eight shots on goal, forcing saves by goalkeeper Joe Ferrari. Junior Yannick Salmon (Westbury, N.Y.) and sophomore Ibrahim Kamara (North Brunswick, N.J.) led the team with a pair of shots.
“We should be able to build off this,” said Reasso. “It was a very good performance; we just didn’t score a goal. It was probably our best game since the Connecticut game, unfortunately, we didn’t come up with a result.
“We have to reload and get ready to go again. We play at Brown, a nationally-ranked team this Tuesday; we don’t get a lot of rest but I’m really proud of our guys, they did an outstanding job. If we keep playing like this, it will translate into some wins.”
The Scarlet Knights will travel to Providence, R.I. to face No. 19/22 Brown on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at 7 p.m.
