Scarlet Knights Drop 1-0 Decision to Seton Hall
Sep 15 | Men's Soccer
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers men's soccer team (1-5, 0-3 BIG EAST) lost a 1-0 decision to BIG EAST rival, Seton Hall (5-2, 2-1 BIG EAST) at Yurcak Field. RU out-shot the Pirates 15-8, but failed to put the ball in the net against Seton Hall's stingy defense.
The game remained close for the first half of play, as neither team could generate any real offensive threats or momentum. The game was scoreless until, with 1:56 remaining in the half, Seton Hall's John Raus scored the lone goal of the game off an Eliseo Giusfredi assist to give Seton Hall the lead heading into halftime.
Rutgers out-shot the Pirates, 9-3 in the second half and had several opportunities to tie the game at one. One opportunity came when Kevin O'Connor (Freehold, N.J.) headed the ball toward Seton Hall's goal, but it bounced off the goalpost to end the scoring threat. RU had several more scoring chances, as Tomislav Barisic (Osijek, Croatia) led Rutgers with four shots, including a corner kick that was blocked with 12:15 remaining in the game. Barisic was fouled with 59 seconds remaining in the game, but the Scarlet Knights could not generate a shot on goal, giving Seton Hall got the 1-0 victory.
RU goalie Matt VanOekel (Chesapeake, Va.) made five saves while his Seton Hall counterpart Ian Joyce made nine saves against the Scarlet Knights.
Rutgers head coach Bob Reasso felt the end result did not reflect the quality of play from his team, but is already looking ahead to the team's next match.
"We played good soccer," he said. "Seton Hall is a very good team. We out-shot them 15-8, and had 11 corner kicks and they had none, but this has been the story of our season. We play well, but we don't play well where it counts in the boxes, and you win games in the boxes. We're all disappointed but we have to gather ourselves and get ready to play Georgetown on Sunday."
Rutgers is back in action on Sunday, Sept. 17, when the Scarlet Knights host Georgetown (3-4, 2-1 BIG EAST), another conference opponent, at 2:00 p.m. at Yurcak Field
Rutgers v. Seton Hall (Sept. 15 at Piscataway, N.J.)
Rutgers (1-5, 0-3 BIG EAST) vs. Seton Hall (5-2, 2-1 BIG EAST)
Date: Sept. 15, 2006 Attendance: 869
Goals by Period: 1 2 Tot
Seton Hall 1 0 1
Rutgers 0 0 0
Scoring Summary:
Shots: RU - 15, SHU - 8.
Saves: RU - 5, SHU -9.
Time Team Goal Assist
43:19 SHU Raus, John Giusfredi, Eliseo
