Rutgers Gearing Up for BIG EAST Semifinals
Nov 01 | Men's Soccer
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers men's soccer team (10-6-2, 6-4-1 BIG EAST) is preparing for its biggest game of the season to date, a BIG EAST semifinal match-up against the No. 2 West Virginia Mountaineers (15-1-2, 9-0-1) on Friday, Nov. 3, at Yurcak Field. The Scarlet Knights advanced to the semifinals following their 2-1, double-overtime defeat of No. 8 Notre Dame in the quarterfinals, while West Virginia defeated South Florida, 1-0, in the quarterfinal round.
Adam Sternberger (Mays Landing, N.J.) was the offensive hero for the Scarlet Knights in their 2-1 defeat of the Irish, scoring both of RU's goals, including the game-winner in double overtime. Following his two-goal performance, Sternberger now leads the team in goals with five. For his efforts against Notre Dame, Sternberger was named College Soccer News' National Player of the Week and was also named to the National Team of the Week.
RU's defense, led by Bart Koffeman (The Hague, Netherlands) and Kyle Grato (Princeton Junc., N.J.), was no less impressive as they held the nation's leading scorer, Joseph Lapira, goalless. Lapira entered the match with 20 goals on the season, including one in his team's first-round defeat of Providence on Oct. 25.
The Scarlet Knights, who started the season with a 1-5 record, enter the semifinals riding a seven-game unbeaten streak and boasting a 9-1-1 record in their last 11 games. Head coach Bob Reasso, now in his 26th year of coaching the men's program, said this team is one of the more special ones he's had the privilege to coach.
"We've had some absolutely great teams'we've been to Final Fours, we've won a BIG EAST championship'but I don't know if I've ever had a group of guys really do what this group has done," Reasso said. "To be able to turn a season around is a tremendous statement about who they are not only individually, but as a group."
Rutgers faces a West Virginia squad that has lost only one game all season, a 2-1 overtime decision to No. 1 Virginia on Sept. 19. Rutgers, 12-3-3 all-time against the Mountaineers, lost the last meeting between the two teams, a 1-0 decision on Nov. 2, 2005, in the first-round of the BIG EAST Tournament. Reasso expects a tough match, but has high expectations for his team.
"West Virginia is a very good team," Reasso said, "but our guys come in every day and train hard. They have a lot of personality and fighting spirit and it's going to be a fun match on Friday night."
Tickets are available for $7.00 adults and $4.00 youth/senior citizens. BIG EAST students are admitted free with a vaild student ID.
The BIG EAST championship game will be played on Sunday, Nov. 5, at 12:00 p.m., at Rutgers' Yurcak Field.
