Rutgers Defeats DePaul for Third-Straight Win
Sep 24 | Men's Soccer
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers men's soccer team (4-5, 2-3 BIG EAST) defeated BIG EAST opponent DePaul (2-7-2, 1-4 BIG EAST), 3-1, for its third win in a row. Rutgers' offense was led with goals by Kevin O'Connor (Freehold, N.J.), Bart Koffeman (The Hague, Netherlands), and Adam Sternberger (Mays Landing, N.J.).
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photo by Will Schneekloth |
The two teams played an evenly-paced match for the first 20 minutes of play, but both offenses came alive within minutes of each other. Rutgers struck first in the 27th minute of play, when Chris Moore (Gosforth, England) fired a pass to O'Connor, who shot the ball into the net to give his team the 1-0 lead over DePaul. The goal was O'Connor's first of the season.
DePaul's offense responded to the RU goal less than a minute later, however, when Julian Chille maneuvered past the Scarlet Knights' defense to put the ball in the net and tie the match, 1-1.
Rutgers' offense struck again with less than five minutes remaining in the first half to put the team ahead, this time for good. A Sean Cameron (N. Brunswick, N.J.) cross found Koffeman, who put the ball in the net to give his team its second lead of the match. It was Koffeman's first goal of the season.
In the second half of play, Sternberger scored his second goal in as many games with an assist from Moore to put Rutgers ahead by two goals, 3-1. It was Moore's second assist of the game, and he now leads the team with seven points on the season.
RU's defense made sure that lead would stand, as the Blue Demons managed only two shots in the second half and just six on the game, including a shot by Alex Mangan that was stopped by Matt VanOekel (Chesapeake, Va.) with less than a minute to play in the second half.
Rutgers' head coach Bob Reasso was proud that his team was able to win three games of its four-game home stand, punctuated by the 3-1 victory over DePaul.
"We gained some confidence from these wins and I'm quite proud of the guys," he said. "They've been a good team all year long. Today we had three different guys chip-in with goals and we were finally able to finish our chances on offense."
Rutgers' next match is at BIG EAST opponent Villanova (4-6-1, 0-5 BIG EAST) on Wednesday, Sept. 27, at 3:00 p.m.
Soccer Game Summary (Final)
2006 Rutgers Men's Soccer
Rutgers v. DePaul (Sept. 24 at Piscataway, N.J.)
Rutgers (4-5, 2-3 BIG EAST) vs. DePaul (2-7-2, 1-4 BIG EAST)
Date: Sept. 24, 2006 Attendance: 483
Goals by Period: 1 2 Tot
DePaul 1 0 1
Rutgers 2 1 3
Scoring Summary:
Shots: DPU - 6, RU - 18.
Saves: DPU - 5, RU - 4.
Time Team Goal Assist26:04 RU O'Connor (1) Moore, Chris
27:02 DPU Chille, Julian (1) unassisted
41:12 RU Koffeman, Bart (1) Cameron, Sean
67:38 RU Sternberger, Adam (2) Moore, Chris
