Men's Soccer Into the Win Column With Victory at Oral Roberts

Friday, September 1

Tulsa, Okla.

8:00 PM

Rutgers University

1-2-0

Oral Roberts

1-1-1

Rutgers

Oral Roberts

Photo by: Suzie Wolf

Men's Soccer Into the Win Column With Victory at Oral Roberts

Sep 02 | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Scarlet Knights Battle Back From 2-2 Second Half Tie; Redshirt Senior Ethan Vanacore-Decker Puts Away Two Goals & An Assist

TULSA, Okla. – Redshirt senior Ethan Vanacore-Decker put away two goals, including the game-winner and added an assist on the game's opening tally as the Rutgers men's soccer team got into the win column with a 5-3 victory at Oral Roberts on Friday night.

Rutgers improved to 1-2-0 overall while Oral Roberts dropped to 1-1-1. The Golden Eagles were coming off a 1-1 draw with No. 25 Wisconsin.

The Scarlet Knights took at 2-0 lead at the midway point of the first half, but found themselves tied at 2-2 in the first 10 minutes of the second stanza. RU rallied though, putting away three unanswered goals in the span of 13 minutes enroute to the victory.

"We responded well," said head coach Dan Donigan. "We did really well in terms of stats for the game – shots, tackles won and challenges. We did a good a job of answering their two goals beginning with Dante (Perez) getting a nice goal to put us back on top. Then we continued to push and press the game."

Scoring opened with Vanacore-Decker setting up Vincent Borden to put away his first collegiate goal on a header from inside the left of the box in the 12^th minute.

Niel Guzman followed to give RU a 2-0 advantage in the 26^th minute as he found the back of the Golden Eagle net from 18 yards out along the left side.

Oral Roberts cut its deficit to one late in the first half. In the 41^st minute, Jorge Barrientos recovered a clear off a Golden Eagle corner from 20 yards out. The Scarlet Knights, however, maintained a 2-1 edge entering the break.

The Golden Eagles battled back to make it a 2-2 ballgame in the 56^th minute. Tarik Nicholls headed in the restart by Santiago Riveros following a yellow card.

Perez began RU's scoring barrage and would put Rutgers up for good in the 73^rd minute when from 25 yards out he hit the crossbar and got the bounce into goal.

Vanacore-Decker followed with back-to-back goals. His first, the resulting game-winner, came in the 83^rd minute, set up by a Perez pass into the middle of the box leading to the header into the center of the Golden Eagle goal. Two minutes later, Vanacore-Decker received a cross from the right side by Miles Hackett to find the right corner.

While Vanacore-Decker's two goals gave Rutgers a 5-2 cushion, Oral Roberts rounded out scoring converting a late penalty kick.

"Tactically our guys did really well and capitalized on opportunities, but then late in the game we made a mistake that we need to clean up against better teams," said Donigan of the late Golden Eagle goal. "Those kind of mistakes, while they didn't kill us tonight, could down the road in tighter games. It was little things where we made mistakes when the game was out of reach, but still, we want to clean those things up."

The Scarlet Knights outshot the Golden Eagles, 24-14, while both teams managed seven corners apiece.

In goal, RU's Rafael Pereira made six stops. ORU's Thibaut Giquel registered four saves in the loss.

"It was a good overall effort," added Donigan. "We've had a lot of travel and now there's a tight turnaround for Sunday. It's all about recovery and getting ready to play a difficult UMKC team."

The Rutgers men's soccer team returns to action on Sunday at 1 p.m. at UMKC closing out its four-game season opening road trip.

KNIGHT NOTES:
- Two Scarlet Knights registered their first Rutgers points – Ethan Vanacore-Decker and Vincent Borden.
- Vanacore-Decker totaled five points (2G, 1) on the night. He has totaled 24 points (10G, 4A) in his career, which also include stints at UConn and Louisville.
- Vanacore-Decker also registered his fourth career game-winning goal.
- Niel Guzman put away his first goal of the 2017 campaign. He has logged 14 career points (5G, 4A).
- Dante Perez, RU's returning leading scorer from 2016, also logged his first goal and assist of the year. He has recorded 14 points (6G, 2A) in his career.
- Miles Hackett registered his sixth assist of his career. He upped his career total to 20 points (7G, 6A).

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-RU-