Rutgers Men's Soccer Upended by NJIT, 2-1
Oct 23 | Men's Soccer
NEWARK, N.J. – The Rutgers men’s soccer team (5-7-3) saw its one-goal lead erased in the second half with a pair of goals as NJIT (2-12-1) defeated the Scarlet Knights 2-1 on Wednesday night at Lubetkin Field.
“I know we’re young and we’re starting five freshmen and five sophomores,” said head coach Bob Reasso. “But this is the third Wednesday in a row that we’ve played on the road and we didn’t show up. I take responsibility; I have to do a better job preparing them.”
Despite having scored only one goal in the first half of its first 14 games, RU was able to find the back of the net in the opening period of Wednesday’s matchup to take a 1-0 lead over the Highlanders. Sophomore Sal Fusari (Union, N.J.) put the Scarlet Knights ahead with the first goal of his collegiate career as he collected the rebound after a Rutgers corner kick and drilled the shot from 15 yards out.
The game was fairly even with the Scarlet Knights holding a slight edge in shots (14-12) and corner kicks (5-4). In the second half, NJIT reversed its fortunes with the equalizer in the 56th minute followed by the game-winner in the 82nd minute.
“We went ahead in the first half. We could, and should have scored three goals in the last 10 minutes of the first half and if we did that, we go away comfortable winners. Unfortunately, we didn’t finish them. We come out and were in control of the second half. They come down and we make five mistakes on [their] first goal. Then they play a big ball, we misjudge it, get chipped for a second goal and we lose 2-1.
“Shame on us, but most importantly shame on me, I take responsibility and I have to do a better job coaching them. But for three Wednesday’s in a row, more than three quarters of our team has punched in with a bad performance and you’re not going to win ball games with three quarters of your team putting in a bad performance. “
The game also featured a coaching matchup between Reasso and former two-time All-American Pedro Lopes, head coach of NJIT. Lopes was a Scarlet Knight during 1990-94, making four NCAA Tournament appearances. He began his coaching career alongside Reasso, spending seven seasons as an assistant at RU.
“Credit to [NJIT], and Pedro Lopes,” said Reasso. “They fought hard and wanted to win this game more than our guys.
“It’s difficult to take, it’s difficult to accept but that’s our reality right now. We have three top 10 teams to play in a row, they’re all BIG EAST games and maybe those games will get their attention, I hope so.”
Wednesday’s contest was the final non-conference match before Rutgers continues its run for a berth into the BIG EAST Championship. RU will take on three formidable opponents in 11th-ranked Louisville (Oct. 25), fourth-ranked St. John’s (Oct. 28) and the No. 12 team in the country in USF (Nov. 1).
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