PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Rutgers men's soccer team closed out the regular season falling 2-0 to Columbia on Wednesday night at Yurcak Field.

The Lions (7-2-3), who ranked as high as No. 14 earlier this season, got onto the scoreboard in the 29^th minute off a restart. John Denis' free kick outside the top right of the 18 resulted in the game-winner.

Columbia added in an insurance goal in the second half. In the 73^rd minute of action, leading scorer Arthur Bosua had a bicycle kick blocked in front of the net, but was able to collect the rebound from eight-yards out and send the ball in just underneath the crossbar.

"That's a very good Columbia team. I think they were significantly better than the team I saw last year," said head coach Dan Donigan. "We were chasing a lot, we were defending a lot. People see a 2-0 score line, but the battle and fight were there. We're not in this fight with everything we have because of some of the injuries and health of some our players. It's difficult to go into a fight without all your weapons. We can't make excuses and we can't lie down, but I thought tonight we got a better response."

Erik Sa had Rutgers' (4-12-1) best chance of reaching the back of the Lion net. The redshirt senior midfielder had an early first half restart that landed in the hands of Columbia keeper Dylan Castanheira.

Castanheira's save on the Sa free kick was his lone save of the night. Scarlet Knight Rafael Pereira, meanwhile, stopped a season-high nine chances.  

"Now it's about the play-in game," added Donigan. "I think this layoff can't come at a better time for us. The record doesn't mean anything at this point. It's about going out there, winning the play-in and having a shot at the number one seed. We'll find out after the weekend where we going and then we'll prepare for Penn State or Northwestern and worry about the one-seed after we hopefully win that play-in game. Everything is behind us at this point and we've got to focus on next weekend and those two matches."

The Rutgers men's soccer team returns to action in the Big Ten Tournament play-in game on Saturday, November 4 against either Northwestern or Penn State. The winner will advance to take on the tournament's top seed. Heading into the final weekend of play, Indiana, Michigan State, Maryland and Michigan are vying for the top spot in the tournament.

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