Rutgers Men's Soccer Hosts Georgetown, Seton Hall
Sep 25 | Men's Soccer
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers men's soccer team (3-2-2, 0-1-1 BIG EAST) returns home for a pair of BIG EAST games against Georgetown on Friday, Sept. 26 at 8:00 p.m. and Seton Hall on Sunday, Sept. 28 at 5:00 p.m. at Yurcak Field.
"It's a challenging weekend but an exciting one," said head coach Bob Reasso. "It will be great to have both games at home after being on the road last week so we're very much looking forward to it."
The Scarlet Knights opened conference action this past weekend at Pittsburgh (Sept. 19) and West Virginia (Sept. 21). RU lost 1-0 to the Panthers but rebounded on Sunday, earning valuable points in league play with a scoreless tie against the Mountaineers.
Rutgers is led by sophomore Dilly Duka (Montville, N.J.) who has four goals on the year. The Scarlet Knights have received goals from six different players, including one goal each from freshmen Gaetano Panuccio (Mechanicsburg, Pa.), Ibrahim Kamara (North Brunswick, N.J.), Jimmy Simon (Leavenworth, Kan.), Sam Archer (Queens, N.Y.) and sophomore Josh Carroll (Cheyenne, Wyo.).
Pacing the squad with four assists is senior Kevin McFadden (Midlothian, Va.), while Panuccio, Archer and sophomore Aly Mazhar (Cairo, Egypt) have one assist apiece this season.
Georgetown enters Friday's contest 6-2 overall and 1-2 in the conference. Most recently, the Hoyas defeated DePaul 1-0 at home on Sept. 21. GU got its game-winner against the Blue Demons from Seth C'deBaca who, along with Chandler Diggs is tied for second with two goals on the season. The Hoyas have 15 goals through eight games with Peter Grasso holding the team lead with three.
"Georgetown is always a very, very good and exciting game for us," said Reasso. "We have a great rivalry; Brian [Wiese] is an outstanding coach. He was an assistant at Notre Dame for years and plays a similar style to them which is a credit to him because Notre Dame is a great program. Georgetown is having a good year; they're off to a great start so we expect a very competitive game."
Seton Hall (4-4-0, 0-2-0 BIG EAST) will take on Villanova prior to traveling to Piscataway to face the Scarlet Knights on Sunday. The Pirates are led by Samuel Petrone who has eight goals this season which is tied for the most in the country. Brayan Martinez has the team lead in assists with three, while Steven Rose and Christian Vercollone each have two assists.
"Seton Hall is a local derby," said Reasso "They started out really well but they've fallen on a bit of a rough patch but you can forget about that when we play. It doesn't matter if we're up and they're down or vice versa, it's always a fiercely competitive game."
Live statistics and audio of both games will be available via the internet at www.scarletknights.com, the official website of Rutgers Athletics
