Rutgers Blanks Lehigh 2-0 in Home Finale
Oct 27 | Men's Soccer
PISCATAWAY, NJ - The Rutgers men's soccer team ended a three-game scoring drought with a pair of goals on Wednesday in a 2-0 victory over Lehigh in the regular-season home finale at Yurcak Field.
The Scarlet Knights scored two second-half goals to improve their record to 6-8-3 overall, while Lehigh falls to 8-5-2 on the season.
Junior Scott Gahagan (Old Bridge, NJ) scored his team-high fourth goal of the season in the 72nd minute to put RU up, 1-0. Sophomore Brinker Dailey (Atlanta, GA) started things off with a throw-in to freshman Kevin O'Connor (Freehold, NJ), who entered the match seconds before. O'Connor sent a cross to Gahagan, who punched it inside the right post from five yards out.
Freshman Tommy Gray (Middletown, NJ) made it 2-0 in the 89th minute with his second career goal. Gray received a cross from sophomore Nick LaBrocca (Howell, NJ) and rocketed in a low shot from 22 yards out, to give RU the 2-0 victory.
Rutgers outshot its 14th opponent of the season on Wednesday, holding an 11-7 edge against the Mountain Hawks. The Scarlet Knights had three corner kicks, compared to Lehigh's two. Both Rutgers goalkeeper George Vasilakis, (Toms River, NJ) and Lehigh goalie Sam Bishop recorded two saves in the contest.
Rutgers is now unbeaten against Lehigh in eight of the last nine meetings with Wednesday's victory. The Scarlet Knights have outshot the Mountain Hawks, 21-4, during that stretch.
Wednesday's match also marked the collegiate debuts of senior Jon Bruno (Millstone, NJ) and junior Keth Ritchings (East Brunswick, NJ). Ritchings started the contest, while Bruno entered in the second half.
Despite the victory, Rutgers was officially eliminated from post season play on Wednesday as the Scarlet Knights learned shortly after their victory that Connecticut defeated Syracuse, 3-2, to secure the eighth and final spot in the BIG EAST Championship.
'It was good to get a victory tonight,' said Rutgers head coach Bob Reasso. 'I thought we held possession throughout the match. It was nice to see Scotty and Tommy get rewarded for all their hard work with goals. I am sad we won't be playing in the postseason this year, but we will fight hard for a victory at West Virginia and after the match, we will immediately turn our focus to next season.'
Rutgers will close out its 2004 season on Saturday, traveling to Morgantown, WV, to face West Virginia at 7 p.m.
