QUEENS, N.Y. (November 7, 2009) – The Rutgers men’s soccer team (9-10-0, 5-6-0 BIG EAST) saw its bid for a BIG EAST Championship end in a quarterfinals loss at rival St. John’s (8-2-8, 6-1-4 BIG EAST) on Saturday, Nov. 7, at Belson Stadium.
The sixth-seeded Scarlet Knights earned an upset of third-seeded West Virginia in their first round matchup on Wednesday night, advancing to their quarterfinal meeting with the Red Division’s second seed St. John’s. It was RU’s 10th appearance in a quarterfinal match in the BIG EAST Championship and fifth meeting against St. John’s in postseason play.
Rutgers and St. John’s played an even first half with both squads taking four shots in the opening period. However, it was a tale of two halves as the Red Storm increased their opportunities, outshooting the Scarlet Knights 10-6 in the second half.
“Credit to St. John’s, they were better in the second half,” said head coach Bob Reasso. “I thought in the first half it was a very even game, we played really well, and the shots were tied 4-4.”
The Scarlet Knights continued to search for a score to break the deadlock, but an injury to a member in the starting lineup created another obstacle for RU. Freshman Dan Parr (Hummelstown, Pa.), who scored a goal in each of the past two games and started the last four contests suffered an injury and was forced to leave the match.
“In the second half, Dan Parr got whacked,” said Reasso. “Unfortunately he had to come out [of the game] 10-15 minutes into the second half and it really killed us because Dan’s been so good for us in the middle of the park. The last couple games he’s really settled that position and he scored a goal in the last two games. Besides his passing, he gives us some aerial power, he can get in the box and he’s really dangerous.
“We couldn’t find a combination in the center of the park in the second half to control that area and they wore us down. That’s where their first goal came from, then we started pushing numbers forward trying to get back into the game and they got two more [goals].”
Rutgers was already without several players from its starting lineup who played vital roles this season. A number of injuries during the year took a toll on the team’s depleted lineup.
“We were without Aly Mazhar, Sam Archer, Chris Edwards, Paulie Calafiore and then Danny [Parr] goes down,” said Reasso. “We played very well in the first half but unfortunately we were too thin at the end and they beat us so credit to them.”
St. John’s found the eventual game-winner in the 68th minute on a goal from Kyle Hoffer. The Red Storm continued their scoring pace with a goal in the 72nd from John Tardy, followed by a score in the 85th minute from Nelson Becerra to earn the 3-0 win.
