PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Rutgers men's soccer team was triumphant it its 2019 Yurcak Field debut in getting past Binghamton, 3-2, to improve to 4-0 on the year.
 

MATCH SUMMARY

• All five goals of the match were scored in the first half.
• The Scarlet Knights got onto the scoreboard two minutes into the contest off a corner kick. Sophomore Thomas DeVizio sent in the ball where junior Vincent Borden headed it down in front of the goal for the bounce into the Bearcat net.
• Binghamton evened the score at 1-1 in the 23^rd minute with leading scorer Noah Luescher taking control of a long kick and firing from the top of the 18 into left post.
• Freshman Jackson Temple's second goal of the season put Rutgers back ahead in the 30^th minute. Classmate Chris Tiao raced down the left sideline getting the ball into Jackson who struck from six yards out with the keeper Mats Roorda deflecting the ball underneath the crossbar.
• The game was tied again four minutes later as the Bearcats' Matthew Cozetti from the left side crossed to Dan Mansfield at the right post for the goal from six yards out into the opposite corner.
• Sophomore Pablo Ávila netted the game-winner with one second remaining in the first half. The Terrassa, Spain native started the sequence with a free kick along the right side resulting Jackson Temple sending the ball towards net from the far side of the field. The Binghamton keeper batted the ball away where it was picked up by Ávila at the top of the 18 and into the top right of the goal.

 

KEY STATS

• Rutgers outshot Binghamton, 15-3, and held a 6-3 edge in corners.
• Freshman goalkeeper Oren Asher picked up a career-high seven saves.

KNIGHT NOTES

• Rutgers received votes in the United Soccer Coaches Poll released on Tuesday afternoon.
• The Scarlet Knights are off to their best start since 1996 when RU opened with four consecutive wins and a six-game unbeaten streak.
• Rutgers improved to 38-30-10 all-time in home openers.
• The victory marked the first home opener victory since 2015.
• The Scarlet Knights' four-game win streak is the longest since winning seven-straight in 2015.
• The three goals were the most by RU at home since a 4-1 victory over Lafayette on Oct. 18, 2017.
• Vincent Borden collected his second career goal and has registered five career points (2G, 3A).
• Pablo Ávila made his first career start and netted his first collegiate and game-winning goal.
• Chris Tiao recorded his first collegiate assist.

MATCH QUOTES

"When I shot, I only saw the ball going towards goal and it went in. Scoring at the last second is a great feeling. We feel really good as team, we feel like a family and that's the most important thing. We have to keep moving on and improve some things and that's how we'll win."

"I thought going forward we played with some urgency and Binghamton was able to bounce back from us scoring early. We had some guys out there playing at a good pace. We've got to get the right balance. We scored three goals which was great, but we also conceded two goals, so we have some work to do. I'm really happy with how our guys competed in the second half, which seems to be a common theme for us right now. Can they really grind out results and so far, so good. We need to play better if we want to be a top team." - head coach Jim McElderry
 

VIDEO RECAP

 

UP NEXT

The Rutgers men's soccer team is back at home to host Manhattan on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 7 p.m.
 

PHOTO GALLERY

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