Men's Soccer Back On The Road To Oral Roberts & UMKC

Friday, September 1

Tulsa, Okla.

8:00 PM

Rutgers University

Oral Roberts

Photo by: Suzie Wolf

Men's Soccer Back On The Road To Oral Roberts & UMKC

Aug 30 | Men's Soccer

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PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers men's soccer team's season opening road trip continues this weekend at Oral Roberts on Friday night and UMKC on Sunday afternoon.

The Scarlet Knights opened the 2017 season last weekend taking on two of the best teams in the country, falling at national runner-up No. 2 Wake Forest and national semifinalist No. 4 North Carolina. During opening weekend, the starting lineup consisted of six returnees including welcoming back redshirt sophomore forward Brian Hawkins and redshirt junior Miles Hackett from injuries. Five Scarlet Knights, meanwhile, appeared in their first starting XI for Rutgers – goalkeeper Rafael Pereira, defenders Bryce Washington and Zeno Mazzucato, midfielder Vincent Borden and forward Ethan Vanacore-Decker.

ABOUT ORAL ROBERTS:
Oral Roberts opened up the season last week with a 1-0 win over Incarnate Word and a 1-1 draw with No. 25 Wisconsin. Against the Badgers, who the Scarlet Knights will host in a nationally televised game on BTN on Oct. 1, Oral Roberts tied the game at 1-1 in the 77th minute off a penalty kick by senior midfielder Santiago Riveros. In Friday's game with the Cardinals, freshman forward Dante Brigida notched the game-winner in the opening moments of the second half.

In goal, Thibaut Giquel has combined for five saves in the season's first two games and is holding down a .833 save percentage and 0.45 goals against average. Last year, he was named to the Summit League All-Newcomer Team.

A year ago, the Golden Eagles finished at 6-10-2 overall and 2-4-0 in the Summit League. Riveros was a second team all-league performer after recording six goals and eight assists. At one point during the 2016 season, Riveros was tied for seventh nationally in assists.

Oral Roberts was picked to finish fourth in the Summit League in a poll of the league's head coaches prior to the official start of the 2017 season.

ABOUT UMKC
UMKC enters Sunday's game at 2-0 opening the season with a pair of shutouts. The Roos kicked off the season with a 3-0 road win at Central Arkansas last Friday before returning home for a 2-0 victory over Northwestern.

Senior forward Eric McWoods was named the WAC Offensive Player of the Week after contributing two assists and a goal in the win at Central Arkansas along with putting away an insurance goal in UMKC's win over Northwestern.

Returning keeper, sophomore Errico Filippo made seven saves total in last weekend's shutouts.

UMKC welcomed back 11 starters from last year's team. The Roos finished 2016 at 2-12-2 overall and 1-7-2 in the WAC. McWoods led the Roos in scoring last season with four goals. UMKC also returns sophomore forward Michele Drago who put away two tallies in 2016.

UP NEXT:
Following this weekend, the Scarlet Knights will return home to host No. 13 Michigan State at Yurcak Field. The Spartans will serve as RU's home and Big Ten opener.

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-