MSOC Opens B1G Tournament
Nov 07 | Men's Soccer
Game Notes | Live Stats
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - It's a new season for the Rutgers men's soccer team as the Scarlet Knights open postseason play with the eighth-seeded Scarlet Knights taking on ninth-seeded Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament play-in game on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Ludwig Field in College Park, Maryland. The winner of Saturday's play-in game advances to take on top-seed and host Maryland on Sunday at 1 p.m.
FAMILIAR TERRITORY
The Scarlet Knights find themselves in a familiar situation as last season eighth-seeded Rutgers made a run to the American Athletic Conference semifinals.
RU began postseason play a year ago with a 5-1 play-in victory over Cincinnati. Former Scarlet Knight Kene Eze exploded for eight points on four goals - the most goals by an American Athletic Conference player in 2013 and the most by a Scarlet Knight since 2006.
Rutgers then went on to upset the tournament top-seed and seventh-ranked Louisville, 1-0, the very next day on the Cardinals' home turf. Goalkeeper David Greczek was a stalwart in net, logging nine saves en route to his fifth shutout of the year.
The Scarlet Knights advanced to play USF in the American semifinal's at Toyota Park in Frisco, Texas. A trip to the AAC championship game came down to double overtime.
After both teams traded goals in the early moments of the game, the contest remained tied at 1-1 at the end of regulation. Four minutes into the second overtime, USF controlled the ball and sent in a shot from 22 yards out into the high right corner of the Scarlet Knight goal for the win and would go on to capture the 2014 American Athletic Conference title.
ABOUT WISCONSIN
The Badgers enter the post season at 3-10-3 and as the ninth-seed after a 0-6-1 mark in Big Ten play. In their last outing, Wisconsin forced overtime after tying the game up at 2-2 against #2 Indiana on Saturday in the 72nd minute. The game ended with a draw.
Mark Segbers leads the Badgers with 13 points (4G, 5A) followed by Tom Barlow with 11 points (4G, 3A).
Casey Beyers has got the starting nod in net the last three games and started the Sept. 12 game vs. RU. He is sporting a 1-4-2 record with a 1.59 goals against average and .682 save percentage. Adrian Remeniuk, meanwhile, has appeared in and started nine contests and holds a 1.59 goals against average as well and a .682 save percentage.
LAST TIME VS. WISCONSIN
Redshirt junior JP Correa scored the golden goal in the 97th minute to give the Rutgers men's soccer team its first ever Big Ten Conference victory in a 3-2 overtime win at the McClimon Soccer Complex on Sept. 12.
Correa's goal came a minute after sophomore goalkeeper David Greczek came up with a huge save to keep the game in motion. Wisconsin's Christopher Mueller, from the left post, attempted to blast the ball into the opposite corner, but a diving Greczek batted the ball away, one of his seven saves of the night.
Moments later the Scarlet Knights gained possession and freshman Jason Wright dribbled through two Wisconsin defenders into the box and fired away at the Badger net from nine yards out. The Scarlet Knights' leading scorer, however, was denied by Wisconsin keeper Casey Beyers, who knocked the ball to the left of the cage.
Junior Thomas O'Rourke took control of the ball at the end line, turned and lifted the ball into the crowd in front of the Wisconsin net. Correa, from the back of the pack, leaped up and headed the ball in to give the first Rutgers team in history a Big Ten win.
Rutgers came from behind in the win as Wisconsin took a 1-0 edge in the game's 12th minute and held on to the advantage until the second half. Tom Barlow drew Greczek out of the net for an open look at the Scarlet Knight net for the early 1-0 Badger lead.
The Scarlet Knights knotted the score a 1-1 seven minutes into the second half. Freshman Brandon Tetro threw the ball in from right side to Correa along the end line. Correa made his way to the goal sneaking the ball in between the post and keeper for his first tally of the 2014 season.
RU went ahead 2-1 in the 81st minute when Rayon Gibbs, the transfer from Tyler Junior College, captured his first Scarlet Knight goal after weaving through the Wisconsin defense from the right side and lifted the ball high into the left corner of the net from atop the box.
The Badgers, however, were able to force overtime knotting the score at 2-2 with a mere two minutes left in regulation. Mark Segbers registered his team-leading fourth goal of the year after a long pass from David Caban after a change of possession at midfield.
The Scarlet Knights ended the game outshooting the Badgers, 22-13, and held a 10-7 edge in corners.
REGULAR SEASON ROUNDUP
RU closed out the regular season at 5-11-1 overall and 1-6-1 in its first season in the Big Ten. RU faced four teams ranked among the Top 25 of the NSCAA/Continental Tire Poll.
ROAD TRIP RECAP
Rutgers only had five games away from the friendly confines of Yurcak Field and ended the regular season at 1-3-1 on the road.
Among the Scarlet Knights' road contests were a 0-0 overtime draw with Michigan State, currently at No. 21 in the NSCAA/Continental Tire Poll, and a 1-0 loss at then #4 Penn State, a game in which RU was able to hold off the Nittany Lions for 79 minutes.
SENIOR DAY
The Scarlet Knights honored two members of the squad that will graduate following this season prior to kickoff against #17 Maryland on Wednesday night.
Senior midfielder Nate Bruccoleri was head coach Dan Donigan's first signee after taking over the Rutgers program in 2010. Bruccoleri has appeared in 71 games in his four year career, starting all but five contests. He has totaled 11 points from three goals and five assists, including an assist this season in RU's 4-1 victory over Penn, as well against the Terps on his senior night. He will graduate this December finishing his degree in Labor and Employment Relations in only three and a half years.
As a freshman, Bruccoleri helped the Scarlet Knights to the Sweet 16 of the 2011 NCAA Tournament. As a rookie he played in all 21 contests and made 18 starts. He scored his first collegiate goal in his RU debut against La Salle and notched the game-winner in a 2-1 victory over Syracuse. He also had his first career assist in a 3-1 win against Pittsburgh.
As a sophomore in 2012, Bruccoleri started all 14 games with an assist in a 2-1 win over Central Connecticut State and capturing six shots on goal.
Helping RU to the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament as a junior in 2013, the Bordentown, N.J. native started all 20 contests and opened the year with a nod to the Duke Soccer Classic All-Tournament Team and was named the team's Most Valuable Player at the end of the season.
Redshirt junior Thomas O'Rourke, who will graduate with a double major in economics and political science, has appeared in 38 contests with 12 career starts. He captured his first points of 2014 with his third career assist on the game-winner in RU's 3-2 overtime win at Wisconsin, helping the men's soccer team capture Rutgers' first ever Big Ten victory in any sport. All three of his career assist shave resulted in game-winners. His other game-winning assists came in a regular season victory against Cincinnati last season and vs. Villanova on a golden goal in the 2012 season finale.
WRIGHT AWAY
Freshman forward Jason Wright continues to lead the Scarlet Knights with 20 points (8G, 4A) on the year.
Wright needs one more goal to match RU's highest goal total by a Scarlet Knight in the last 12 seasons. Former Scarlet Knight and recent Coursen Award winner Kene Eze in 2012 and 2013, Dilly Duka in 2008 and Adam Sternberger in 2005 each had eight goals in their respective seasons.
A ninth goal by Wright would be the most goals by an RU student-athlete since Josh Gros' 16 in 2003.
Wrights' two nets against the Penn on Oct. 14 marked his third two-goal game output. Wright also had both goals in RU's 2-1 win over Lafayette and both Scarlet Knight goals in the setback to Princeton.
The Kingston, Jamaica added in two assists in RU's last contest vs. #17 Maryland to bring his season point total to 20. His 20 points on the season ties for the most by a Scarlet Knight since the 2003 season.
Wright is second in the Big Ten in points (18) and tied for second in goals per game (0.47).
NEWS AROUND THE NET
With his nine saves against Bradley last Friday, sophomore David Greczek set a new season-high, surpassing his previous high of seven stops against five different opponents (Syracuse, Hofstra, Wisconsin, Indiana & Penn State). It was his 16th career game with five or more stops and eighth career game with seven or more saves.
Additionally with his nine saves against the Braves, Greczek also cracked RU's top ten all-time save leaders list. He is currently eighth on the list with 182 career stops. The sophomore goalie needs four more saves to surpass Matt VanOekel (`05-'07) for seventh on the all-time list.
He currently ranks second in the Big Ten in saves (74) and leads the conference in saves per game (4.93).
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.
RUTGERS CAREER SAVES
1. 363 - Joe DeMorat (`84-'87)
2. 303 - Steve Widdowson (`94-'96)
3. 275 - Jon Conway (`96-'99)
4. 214 - Dave Barrueta (`88-'90
5. 209 - Dave Yeager (`82-'84)
6. 199 - Ricky Zinter (`99-'02)
7. 185 - Matt VanOekel (`05-`07)
8. 182 - David Greczek (`13-present)
9. 171 - Bill Andracki (`90-'91)
10. 169 - Kori Hunter (`92-'93)
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