Rutgers Falls in OT at Lehigh, 2-1
Sep 15 | Men's Soccer
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Rutgers men's soccer team dropped a tough, hard-fought contest in extra time at Lehigh Friday night. The Scarlet Knights were edged 2-1 by a goal that came in the opening minutes of the overtime period to fall to 1-3-1.
The Scarlet Knights and Mountain Hawks played to a scoreless first half with RU out-shooting Lehigh 4-3. Rutgers almost got on the board first, in the 17th minute, when senior forward Kevin O'Connor (Freehold, N.J.) split the defense, but Lehigh defender Michael Hessemer was able to recover in time to end the threat.
Twelve minutes later the Scarlet Knights narrowly snuck one by Mountain Hawks goalkeeper Brian Lee, as the shot hit the crossbar and bounced over the net. Lehigh had the best scoring opportunity in the half when Evans had an open shot at the net with just ten seconds remaining, however, senior goalkeeper Matt VanOekel (Chesapeake, Va.) made the stop to keep the game scoreless going into halftime.
The Mountain Hawks scored first in the second half, posting a goal in the 51st minute. A free kick was played into the box where it was met by Kyle Evans, who was able to head it past VanOekel for the 1-0 lead.
Rutgers would not wait long to strike back, as freshman Aly Mazhar (Cairo, Egypt) evened the score with the first goal of his collegiate career in the 57th minute. Mazhar played a pass from fellow classmate Dilly Duka (Montville, N.J.), who posted his team-leading third assist of the season.
Play started to get a little physical in the 80th minute, when VanOekel charged out of the net and was taken down by a Lehigh player. On the ensuing corner kick, Jake Martenson received a red card and was ejected, leaving the Scarlet Knights a man down for the remainder of the game. In total, there were four yellow cards and one red card handed out during the match, and 37 fouls between the two teams.
After playing to a 1-1 tie through regulation, Lehigh would eventually strike again and seal the victory on another goal from Evans. Evans headed a game-winner in the 91st minute to put the Mountain Hawks on top 2-1.
"We were a bit setup in this one," said head coach Bob Reasso. "They had eight days of rest and we had two. They hadn't played since Thursday, while we played twice during that period and they got a chance to scout us twice."
"We played three games in seven days, they played once during that time," Reasso added. "Tonight I think we were a more tired team, especially since playing a man down and they got a goal in extra-time to beat us. We are deeply disappointed, it was a tough loss for us, but we have to regroup and get ready to go again."
The Scarlet Knights will return to action Friday, Sept. 21, when they open their BIG EAST Conference slate against No. 8 Notre Dame on a nationally-televised contest on Fox Soccer Channel.
