Rutgers Men's Soccer Takes On Local Rival Princeton
Oct 14 | Men's Soccer
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Coming off a big win this past weekend, the Rutgers men's soccer team ( 5-4-3) returns to action this Wednesday night against in-state rival Princeton (2-8-1) at 7:30 p.m. at Roberts Stadium.
"Records go out the door when it's Rutgers and Princeton," said head coach Bob Reasso. "We have long history of playing against each other, it's a great rivalry. They have a brand new stadium which I heard is tremendous and we're looking forward to going down there and playing them. It's going to be a tough game and Jimmy [Barlow] is an outstanding coach."
The Scarlet Knights earned a conference win on Saturday with an exciting overtime 3-2 victory over BIG EAST foe Syracuse ( Oct. 11). The Orange took a 1-0 lead early in the fifth minute of the contest, but RU would respond quickly coming out of halftime with a goal from sophomore Dilly Duka (Montville, N.J.) which was assisted by freshman Bryant Knibbs (Pine Bush, N.Y.). Duka then found the back of the net again at the 66th minute to send the Scarlet Knights to a 2-1 lead.
Syracuse was not hesitant to answer back and scored in the closing minutes of the game to tie it up 2-2. To capture the game winning goal in overtime Duka found freshman Sam Archer (Queens, N.Y.) in the box for the go ahead score and his second goal of the season.
With Duka's performance on Saturday night he continues to rank first on the team with eight goals, while Sam Archer follows with two. Six other Scarlet Knights – freshman Gaetano Panuccio (Mechanicsburg, Pa.), Ibrahim Kamara (North Brunswick, N.J.), and Jimmy Simon (Leavenworth, Kan.), and sophomores Josh Carroll ( Cheyenne, Wyo.) and Aly Mazhar (Cairo, Egypt) – all have one goal apiece on the year.
Senior Kevin McFadden (Midlothian, Va.) leads Rutgers with six assists, followed by Archer with two and Knibbs, Duka, Panuccio, and Mazhar who each have one.
Princeton has lost its previous two match-ups, falling in a 2-1 overtime loss to Adelphi, and then coming up a goal short with a 3-2 loss to Brown. The Tigers are led by Brandon Busch who has four goals on the season, followed by Josh Walburn and Teddy Schneider who are tied with two apiece. Devin Muntz leads the Tigers with 4 assists followed by Busch with two.
Following Wednesday's contest, the Scarlet Knights will close on their five-match road trip with games at Cincinnati (Oct.18) and NJIT (Oct. 22).
