Penn State Edges MSoc, 2-0

Saturday, October 3

Piscataway, N.J.

7:00 PM

Rutgers University

4-4-1, 1-3-0Big Ten

Penn State

5-3-2, 2-1-1Big Ten

Penn State

Rutgers

Oct 04 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Oct. 4, 2015

Box Score

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers men's soccer team looked to rebound after trailing 1-0 at the break and enduring a nearly two and half hour delay due to a power outage at Yurcak Field prior to the start of the second half, but conceded a goal in the final minutes of the contest in a 2-0 loss to Penn State on Saturday night.

The loss dropped Rutgers to 4-4-1 overall and 1-3-0 in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions improved to 5-2-2 overall and 2-1-1 in the league.

"The guys deserve so much more than that score line. The second goal was against a run play typical of a game where you are pressing and chasing to get that tying goal," said head coach Dan Donigan. "I'm very happy and pleased with the way these guys are playing. For me, I'll take that 90 minutes of play out of my guys any day of the week. I would think percentages would give them more wins than these results. I thought we did very well."

Despite the Scarlet Knights' 12 shots attempts in the opening stanza, Penn State took a 1-0 lead into the intermission.

The Nittany Lions' Brian James had an interception in the midfield of Scarlet Knight territory and gave up the ball to Connor Maloney at the top of the 18. Unable to find an opening, Maloney slid the ball to his right and back to James for the goal and 1-0 PSU lead in the 10th minute.

Rutgers nearly had the equalizer moments later. On Mitch Lurie (Atlanta, Ga.) clear, sophomore Jason Wright (Kingston, Jamaica) beat out Nittany Lion keeper Matt Bersano for the loose ball. As Wright went to goal and took a shot from 12-yards out at the near post, Robby Sagel headed the ball out-of-bounds to keep Rutgers off the scoreboard.

Wright had another look a minute later stopped again by Bersano. Coming off a blocked shot by Miles Hackett (Montclair, N.J.), Wright's rebound was scooped up by the Nittany Lion keeper.

Bersano had two more saves to keep Penn State ahead in the first half. Redshirt senior JP Correa (Montville, N.J.) sent in a blast from 22-yards out at the 30-minute mark. Bersano's diving save at the far post was picked up by freshman Brian Hawkins (Chesterfield, N.J.), but his shot off the rebound was just wide of the right post.

In the 35th minute, senior Mitchell Taintor (Storrs, Conn.) saw his shot from the midfield go off a Penn State defender setting up a corner kick by junior Erik Sa (Watchung, N.J.). Sa collected the attempted clear and looked to bend it into the Nittany Lion net from near the endline, but Bersano made the stop at the near post.

After the break, as the two teams were about to begin second half action, Yurcak Field lost power resulting in a delay of two hours and 29 minutes before play was resumed at 10:30 p.m.

The Scarlet Knights once against controlled most of the half, outshooting the Nittany Lions, 8-4, out of the break along with four corner opportunities.

The Scarlet Knights' best chance at the equalizer came with just over four minutes left to play. Sa delivered the ball into the box to Wright, who then used a tap to Niel Guzman (Bridgewater, N.J.) on his right side. Guzman played the ball back to Wright, who passed back to on-coming Sa. From 12-yards out, Sa found the clearing but his shot hit the far post.

In the closing minutes, Penn State cleared out a corner attempt by the Scarlet Knights for its second goal. While David Greczek (Fairfield, N.J.) was able to stop Riley Grant's initial shot from 12-yards out, he collected his own rebound for an open look at net.

Rutgers ended the night outshooting Penn State, 20-8, and holding a 9-1 advantage in corners.

"You work hard to get those great chances and for whatever reason it's a great sliding tackle or the ball hits the post. Whatever the reason, it's frustrating but you have to keep going," said Donigan. "You can't let that frustration keep you or slow you down."

"These guys are very headstrong right now. They know they are good," added Donigan. "They are playing with great confidence and they have the desire to move forward and get chances. I think our day is very close to coming. I'm confident in my team that we can win the remaining games."

The Rutgers men's soccer team returns to nonconference play on Tuesday night when the Scarlet Knights host Yale at 7 p.m.

Follow Rutgers Athletics on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersMensSoccer) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/RUMensSoccer) for all of the latest news and updates. Fans also receive timely information, including special offers and giveaways throughout the year on both social media outlets along with www.ScarletKnights.com.

-RU-