NEWARK, N.J. | Under the Saturday night lights at Frederick Douglass Field, the men's soccer team hosted #19 Stevens Institute of Technology in a non-conference bout. Rutgers University-Newark (3-3) came surging into tonight's game but fell to Stevens (6-0), 2-1.
The second-ranked opponent the Scarlet Raiders have faced this season came out strong and tested the defense early.
Andres Medina was called upon twice within the first three minutes of the game. The men started to settle into the game after the early flurry of shots by the visitors and would return the treatment with a pair of shots of their own.
Franco Catania's attempt nearly put the Scarlet Raiders up 1-0 but saw his shot go by mere inches from the post.
Stevens broke the deadlock in the 20' when Sean Masur's shot was parried away by Medina, however, it would fall to Cristiano Hocken's feet who was able to knock it into the back of the open net.
The Scarlet Raiders would not allow Stevens to hold onto their lead for long. In the 21' the Scarlet Raiders would be fouled setting up a free-kick from 23 yards out.
Ryan Silva stepped up to the ball and was able to get it up and down over the wall with enough power to make it tough for Aedan Boriotti to save. Boriotti tried to make the save but the shot had too much power as it found its way into the back of the net.
Shots were few and far between for the rest of the half as both teams tried to pick each other apart in between the boxes.
As the second half wore on, Stevens' opportunities on net began to increase. Stevens fired off three shots in a three-minute span but all three attempts went wide of goal.
The constant pressure by the Ducks finally broke the Scarlet Raiders down as Masur and Hocken teamed up once again for the game-winning tally. Masur found Hocken in the center of the box. Hocken received the pass and put it past Medina into the left side of the goal.
The Scarlet Raiders made a late push and almost found the back of the net but saw the attempt go over the crossbar and out of play.
Next up for the men is a game against Marywood University in Scranton, PA at 7:00 pm on Monday, September 16.
