MSOC B1G Tournament Run Ends in Semifinals
Nov 13 | Men's Soccer
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Rutgers men's soccer team's Big Ten Tournament run came to an end in the semifinals on Saturday at an extremely windy Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, as the fourth seeded Scarlet Knights fell 4-0 to top seed and host Ohio State.
The Scarlet Knights dropped to 12-6-1 overall and will now await Monday's selection show to see if they will earn an at-large bid to the 2015 NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament. Ohio State, meanwhile, improved to 13-5-2 overall and will meet the winner of the other semifinal contest between No. 2 Indiana and No. 3 Maryland in the Big Ten Championship Game on Sunday.
The Buckeyes struck less than a minute into the contest. From the right side of the 18, Marcus McCrary crossed the ball to the top of the box. Rather than shooting, Yaw Amankwa elected to pass behind him to Abdi Mohamed, who found an opening to fire on the Scarlet Knight goal for the 1-0 lead 57 seconds into the contest.
Ohio State went ahead 2-0 in the 20th minute as Hunter Robertson found Danny Jensen to send a header under the crossbar.
Big Ten goalkeeper of the Year, Chris Froschauer , saved both RU's chances on goal in the first half.
Just prior to the Buckeye's second goal, the Scarlet Knights had their first attempt on goal. Niel Guzman (Bridgewater, N.J.) fed Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year Jason Wright (Kingston, Jamaica) from the left side box, but Wright's look landed in Froschauer's hands.
All-Big Ten Freshman Team member Brian Hawkins (Chesterfield, N.J.) came off the bench for RU's other shot of the opening stanza. His header at the front of the Buckeye net was another Froschauer stop
Ohio State added in two second half goals coming at opposite ends of the second half. The Buckeyes captured its third goal right after the second stanza's opening whistle and added in its final tally in the closing minutes of the game.
The wind dramatically affected the Scarlet Knights looks on the Buckeye net in the second half with gusts taking the ball wide on several occasions.
Among RU's best chances were a shot by JP Correa (Montville, N.J.) forcing Froschauer to leap up in the air to make the stop and a free kick by Mitchell Taintor (Storrs, Conn.) blocked by a wall of Ohio State defenders at the top of the box, both midway through the second half.
The Buckeyes outshot Rutgers, 11-10, while the Scarlet Knights held a 5-4 edge in corners. Hawkins led Rutgers with a pair of shots, both on goal.
Rutgers netminder David Greczek (Fairfield, N.J.) ended the afternoon with four saves. Froschauer made five saves in the shutout.
The NCAA Men's Soccer Selection Show will be streamed live on NCAA.com on Monday at 1 p.m.
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