Men's Soccer Hosts Northwestern on Alumni Night
Oct 13 | Men's Soccer
PISCATAWAY, N .J. - The Rutgers men's soccer team welcomes back its alumni and honors former head coach Bob Reasso on his induction into the Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday as the Scarlet Knights host Northwestern at 6 p.m.
| Game Twelve: Northwestern (2-9-1, 1-3-1 Big Ten) | |
| Date | Friday, Oct. 14 |
| Time | 6 p.m. EST |
| Location | Yurcak Field | Piscataway, N.J. |
| Video (Talent) | BTN Plus ($) (Jared Smith and Dom Savino) |
| Radio (Talent) | WRSU - 88.7 FM (John Spilletti) |
| Live Stats | |
| Statistics | Rutgers | Northwestern |
| Game Notes | Rutgers | Northwestern |
| Tickets | Purchase Here |
| Promotions | - Rutgers Soccer Mini Pennants (250) |
ALUMNI NIGHT
The Rutgers men's soccer team welcomes back its alumni as the Scarlet Knights host Northwestern in the final Big Ten home game of the season.
Friday night's game will not only recognize its former student-athletes, but honor former coach Bob Reasso on his induction into the Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame.
Rutgers is coming off a 4-1 setback to in-state and long-time rival Princeton. The Scarlet Knights and Tigers squared off for the 58th time in history.
Princeton took a 3-0 lead by the half, but the Scarlet Knights responded with a Dante Perez goal in the 55th minute with his third goal of the season. Freshman Athanasios Scheidt sent a pass into the box towards Jason Wright and Perez. In the scramble with the Princeton defense, Perez emerged with the ball to strike from eight-yards out. The Tigers, however, would add another tally in the 80th minute.
ABOUT NORTHWESTERN
The Wildcats enter Yurcak Field with a 2-9-1 overall mark and 1-3-1 Big Ten Conference record. Northwestern has dropped its last three contests including a 4-0 setback to Maryland back on Sept. 30 as well as dropping a 1-0 contest at UCF on Oct. 5 and falling 2-0 to UIC on Tuesday night.
Brandon Medina leads Northwestern with five points (2G, 1A), needing only three shots to collect his pair of goals. Four Wildcats are tied for second in scoring with four points apiece - Elo Ozumba (2G), Jeffery Hopson (2G), Nathan Dearth (1G, 2A) and Mike Roberge (1G, 2A).
Franciso Tomasino has been the last line of defensive for the Wildcats in 10 games, registering a 1.89 goals against average and .694 save percentage. Braden Thuraisingham got the start, however, on Tuesday night vs. UIC, making two stops against the Flames.
LAST TIME VS. NORTHWESTERN - BIG TEN TOURNAMENT
The fourth seeded Rutgers men's soccer team advanced to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals following a pair of goals by former Scarlet Knight midfielder Mitchell Taintor in a 2-0 victory over fifth seeded Northwestern on Nov. 8, 2015 at Yurcak Field.
Taintor put away his first goal of the afternoon in the game's 23rd minute taking control of a loose ball after a save and then added an insurance tally on his fifth goal of the season in the 85th minute of action.
The Northwestern offense generated 12 shots, including six on frame stopped by netminder David Greczek. Allen made four saves in the loss for the Wildcats.
Rutgers finished the game outshooting the Wildcats, 18-12, while Northwestern held a 4-3 edge in corner kicks.
LAST TIME VS. NORTHWESTERN - REGULAR SEASON
The Rutgers men's soccer team defeated Northwestern 4-2 at Toyota Park on Oct. 16, 2015.
The Scarlet Knights established a 3-0 lead before Northwestern scored twice within a five-minute span to drop Rutgers down to a 3-2 edge with just over 21 minutes to play. A minute after the Wildcats sliced their deficit to one, Jason Wright captured his team-leading 11th goal of the season.
Goalkeeper David Greczek came up with five critical saves for Rutgers, including stopping a Wildcat PK in the 20th minute after RU had already generated a 1-0 lead.
Rutgers was out in front 2-0 by halftime. The combo of a Mitch Lurie corner kick and Drew Morgan header put the Scarlet Knights on the scoreboard. Morgan's goal, his second of the season, gave RU a 1-0 lead in the fourth minute.
Brian Hawkins added in the game's second score in the 26th minute and RU went up 3-0 in the 60th minute as Miles Hackett captured what would be the game-winner from 20-yards out at the top of the circle.
Greczek helped to preserve the Scarlet Knight edge after stopping a potential equalizer. The junior Scarlet Knight stopped a penalty kick awarded to Joey Calistri in the 20th minute. He also had another big save in the closing minute of the opening stanza. He stopped a one-on-one with the Wildcats' Jeffrey Hopson to keep RU up by two heading into the intermission.
Within minutes thought, RU's three-goal advantage was reduced to one. Countering off a Scarlet Knight corner, Northwestern's Cole Missimo flicked in the ball from the left of the box the 64th minute, while in the 69th minute the Wildcats Elo Ozumba got into the RU goal from the ride side.
With Rutgers holding on to a 3-2 lead, the Scarlet Knights' leading scorer responded less than a minute later to put away an insurance goal. Tyler Morris split a pair of Wildcat defenders to set up JWright, the week's NSCAA and Big Ten Player of the Week, to find the gap from the left side of the 18.
Greczek added three more stops in the second half to end the night with five saves. Zak Allen made five saves as well for the Wildcats as the Scarlet Knights outshot their opponent, 15-13.
NEWS AROUND THE NET
Goalkeeper David Greczek is currently second all-time at Rutgers in saves. The senior has made 333 stops since stepping foot "On The Banks".
Among all active Division I goalkeepers, Greczek is the NCAA Division I leader in career saves (333) and second in saves per game (4.83).
Greczek made a season-high nine saves in the double overtime draw with No. 4 Indiana along with eight saves in contests with No. 4 Maryland, No. 7 Creighton and No. 15 FGCU.
To date, the senior netminder has posted 16 career shutouts, including most recently against No. 4 Indiana.
Greczek has registered 32 career games making five or more stops in his career and nine contests with eight or more saves.
RUTGERS CAREER SAVES
1. 363 - Joe DeMorat '84-'87
2. 333 - David Greczek '13-present
3. 303 - Steve Widdowson '94-'96
4. 275 - Jon Conway '96-'99
5. 214 - Dave Barrueta '88-'90
HALL OF FAME KNIGHT
Former Scarlet Knight head coach Bob Reasso will be inducted in the Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame this weekend and be honored at halftime of Friday night's contest with the Wildcats.
Spending nearly three decades as a head coach "On The Banks", Bob Reasso led the Rutgers men's soccer team to 13 NCAA appearances, including the 1990 national championship game, three Final fours, six league titles and coached 19 Scarlet Knight All-Americans. During his 29 seasons at Rutgers, Reasso compiled an overall record of 351-183-71, winning 10 or more matches in 21 seasons and reaching the 15-win mark seven times.
UP NEXT
Following Friday's game, RU will host NJIT in its second-to-last home game of the year on Tuesday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m.
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 withwww.ScarletKnights.com.
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