Rutgers Holds Onto Early Lead to Upend No. 14 Louisville
Oct 26 | Men's Soccer
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Rutgers men’s soccer team got goals from freshmen Robert McLarney (Londonderry, N.H.) and Gaetano Panuccio (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) en route to a crucial 2-1 BIG EAST win over No. 14 Louisville at a rainy Yurcak Field Saturday evening.
The Cardinals (9-5-2, 4-4-1) are the second Top 15 team that the Scarlet Knights have beaten at home this season. The Scarlet Knights (6-7-3, 3-4-2) improves to 5-2-2 in front of their home fans on the year.
“We won a very big game tonight,” said Rutgers head coach Bob Reasso. “Our guys showed a lot of courage by hanging in there. There was a lot of fouling going on in the box on every set piece and our guys hung tough and got a result. That’s a big three points for us.”
Rutgers got on the board first in the 29th minute when McLarney tallied his first career goal. The freshman blasted a shot from 25 yards out and buried it in the top right corner of the goal. The Scarlet Knights dominated play for the majority of the first half, outshooting the Cardinals 7-2.
Almost three minutes into the second stanza, all players and fans were evacuated from the field as a lightening delay suspended the game for nearly 45 minutes.
“I thought we were the far superior team in the first half when the surface was dry and we could pass the ball,” said Reasso. “The delay actually helped them because they are much bigger than us and all they wanted to do was serve balls into our box and live off that.”
After play resumed, the Scarlet Knights extended their lead on Panuccio’s second tally of the year. The goal came off a free kick as Josh Carrol (Cheyenne, Wyo.) sent the ball into the box and Panuccio managed to get his head on the ball in-between numerous defenders for the score.
Louisville would finally get on the board in the 86th minute when Ryan McDonald netted his fourth goal of the season off a feed from J.T. Murray, but the Cardinals would get no closer.
The Scarlet Knights will host their final home game of the 2008 season on Tuesday, taking on No. 4 St. John’s at Yurcak Field. The BIG EAST tilt will start at 7:00 p.m.
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