Rutgers Men's Soccer Ends Road Swing With Princeton
Oct 06 | Men's Soccer
Game Notes | Live Stats | Ivy League Digital Network
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (October 6, 2014) - Coming off a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to No. 4 Penn State on a late second half goal, the Rutgers men's soccer team is looking to return to the win column on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. when they meet the Princeton Tigers.
BACK ON THE ROAD
Rutgers makes the drive down Route 1 to meet up with Princeton on Tuesday night to close out a three-game road trip. Following Tuesday's contest, the Scarlet Knights will return to Yurcak Field for six of their last seven matches.
The Scarlet Knights are looking to return to the win column following a 1-0 loss to No. 4 Penn State on Saturday. The game can be viewed with a subscription to the Ivy League Digital Network.
PLAYING THE BEST
Rutgers is coming off three-straight contests against nationally-ranked opponents with the Scarlet Knights going 0-2-1 during the stretch. Both losses - #14 Indiana & #4 Penn State - were both one goal margins.
Against the fourth-ranked Nittany Lions, the Scarlet Knight defense held tight for 79 minutes of play before PSU broke through to remain undefeated on the year.
RU played at a 0-0 draw against #16 Michigan State last weekend, a team that had allowed only one goal and 21 shots on net. After the first 45 minutes saw the Scarlet Knights outshot, 11-3, RU amped up its offensive chances with five attempts to MSU's eight in the second half and both overtimes.
Rutgers entered halftime against No. 14 Indiana tied at 1-1 thanks in part to six first half saves by goalkeeper David Greczek, including one on a Hoosier penalty kick. After Indiana went ahead 2-1 in the 65th minute, RU had a chance to tie five minutes later. However, sophomore midfielder Erik Sa's free keep landed in the hands of Hoosier keeper Colin Webb.
ABOUT PRINCETON
Princeton enters Tuesday's game at 3-3-2 overall and coming off a 2-1 overtime loss to Dartmouth in its Ivy opener.
Senior forward Cameron Porter leads the Tigers with 12 points (5G, 2A) and is followed by junior midfielder Thomas Sanner with nine points (4G, 1A) and senior midfielder Julian Griggs (2G, 1A).
In net, junior Ben Hummel is holding down a 1.63 goals against average and .689 save percentage.
ALL-TIME SERIES WITH PRINCETON
It's the longest standing rivalry in the record books as Rutgers and Princeton meet for the 57th time in history.
While the Tigers lead the all-time series, 21-29-9, RU has won the last two meetings and 10 of the last 14 meetings dating back to 1995.
LAST TIME VS. PRINCETON
The Rutgers men's soccer team overcame an early 1-0 deficit with three unanswered goals to earn 3-2 victory over in-state rival Princeton on Sept. 13, 2013 at Yurcak Field.
The visiting Tigers took an early 1-0 edge eight minutes into the game with Thomas Sanner converting a penalty kick. Sanner, who was racing into the box, was fouled by RU goalie David Greczek giving the Tigers the one-on-one situation to take the lead.
Former Scarlet Knight Mael Corboz responded with back-to-back goals to give the Scarlet Knights the lead for good.
The Scarlet Knights gave up a late goal with the Tigers notching another penalty kick score, this time coming from Cameron Porter with nine minutes left. Princeton, however, would be denied any other looks at the net.
ALL-TIME VS. THE IVY
The Scarlet Knights are 41-50-12 all-time against the Ivy League.
Brown: 2-3
Columbia: 10-11-3
Cornell: 1-0
Dartmouth: 1-0
Harvard: 1-0
Penn: 5-9
Princeton: 21-26-9
Yale: 0-1
THOU SHALL NOT PASS
With seven saves against No. 4 Penn State on Saturday, goalkeeper David Greczek has registered 15 career games with five or more stops and seven career games with seven or more saves.
Greczek currently has 155 career saves in 29 games played and needs 15 more stops to rank on RU's top ten career saves leaders list.
He currently ranks second in the Big Ten in saves (47) and leads the conference in saves per game (5.22).
Greczek finished his first season "On The Banks" with 108 saves in the 2013 campaign. It is the first time since 1995 an RU keeper has logged 100 or more saves in a single season and the most since Steve Widdowson's 106 saves in 1994. He also puts his name tied for third in the single season record book.
B1G STATS
Freshman forward Jason Wright currently leads the Scarlet Knights and is tied for seventh in the Big Ten with eight points (3G, 2A).
The Kingston, Jamaica native scored RU's first three goals of the season, including two game-winners.
UP NEXT
The Rutgers men's soccer team returns home to Yurcak Field to host Michigan on Saturday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m.
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