Rutgers Men's Soccer Edged 1-0 by Cincinnati
Oct 18 | Men's Soccer
CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Rutgers men’s soccer team dropped a hard-fought 1-0 contest to Red Division BIG EAST foe Cincinnati on Saturday evening at Gettler Stadium.
“I thought we played well,” said head coach Bob Reasso. “It was a pretty even game. Even when we fouled them in our attacking third, all they did was launch the ball into our box, so it was us defending set pieces all night from all over the field. I thought we defended them pretty well, it was very difficult to play because it’s the kind of game where you’re fouled constantly so you can’t find a rhythm.”
“It was a choppy, typical Fieldturf, BIG EAST kind of game. We defended well but it came down to one play. The ball was played into the box and their center forward turned our back and scored a big goal.”
Rutgers and Cincinnati were nearly identical in almost every category. The Bearcats held a slight edge in shots (11-9) and corner kicks (6-5) for the game.
Both teams played to a scoreless first half, but Cincinnati would deliver the definitive blow following the intermission as Branden Stelmak found the back of the net in the 55th minute. UC held on to that one-goal lead and the eventual victory.
“We have three BIG EAST games left, two at home, one away and they’re against top 10 teams,” said Reasso. “They will be games that are more palatable for us. It’ll be teams that are really looking to play soccer and not try to live off set pieces. Our kids fought hard tonight and that was a good part but it was just a tough result on the road.”
“I’m proud of our kids. They rebounded from a poor effort against Princeton [Oct. 15] but it just didn’t go our way,” Reasso added.
Rutgers will return to action on Wednesday, Oct. 22, when it takes on NJIT at 7:00 p.m. The Scarlet Knights will resume BIG EAST action on Saturday, Oct. 25, hosting Louisville at 7:00 p.m., followed by conference matches against St. John’s (Oct. 28) and South Florida (Nov. 1).
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