Tigers Tamed: 10-man Rutgers men's soccer holds on to defeat Princeton
The Rutgers men’s soccer team earned a much-needed 3-1 bounce-back victory against Princeton on Friday night. The Scarlet Knights (2-1, 0-0) scored 2 goals in the first 11 minutes, but a red card late in the first half forced them to play defensive for the rest of the game. The Tigers (0-1, 0-0) were ultimately left frustrated by the home team’s stout defense.
Rutgers set the tone early with a well-worked goal 18 seconds into the match. Junior forward Ian Abbey beat his defender to play a pass to senior midfielder Curt Calov, who put the ball past Princeton goalkeeper Khamari Hadaway on the Knights’ first shot of the night. All 3 of Calov’s goals this season have been scored within the first 10 minutes.
Calov continued his great start to the game, playing a key role in Rutgers’ 2nd goal in the 11th minute. Against the run of play, Calov dribbled the ball down the left-hand side of the pitch and played a ball to the back post to graduate student forward Ola Maeland, who easily put the ball into the back of the net for his 1st goal of 2024. It was the second time this season that the Knights led by 2 goals in the first 12 minutes of a game.
The Rutgers backline took a hit in the 34th minute, as senior defender Joey Zalinsky, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week, received a straight red card after his foul on Nico Nee. Zalinky’s challenge forced Nee to come off due to injury, resulting in the Knights being down a man for the final 10 minutes of the first half and the entire second half.
Despite Zalinsky’s absence, Rutgers limited the Tigers to just one shot on goal in the first 45 minutes and defended the latter’s five corners with ease.
The Knights focused on defending their 2-goal lead throughout the second half. Making his first appearance of the season, head coach Jim McElderry brought on senior defender Aidan Flynn to play center-back in place of Zalinsky’s red card.
It worked well for the beginning of the second half until Princeton broke through the Rutgers backline in the 58th minute off a free kick. Jack Jasinski’s inswinging ball found the wide-open Giuliano Fravolini Whitchurch, beating junior goalkeeper Ciaran Dalton to cut the deficit to 1 goal.
The Tigers almost leveled the game in the 72nd minute with a shot from Daniel Ittycheria, the team’s leading goal scorer last season. Ittycheria beat his man to get a shot off, but Dalton parried the effort away with his right hand.
With Princeton knocking on the door, the Knights were gifted a golden opportunity to put the game to bed with a penalty kick in the 78th minute. After a Tigers handball in their box, Abbey stepped up to the spot and sent Hadaway the wrong way for his 1st goal of the season and the home team’s 3rd goal of the contest.
“Getting a 2-goal lead is huge, especially in such a hard game like this where we’re defending and a man down and we need a goal,” Abbey said on the goal. "I’m happy to get that.”
Dalton was a significant factor in the win, making six saves, most of which came in the second half.
“(Dalton) has that in him,” McElderry on Dalton. “He just has the ability to play his best in tough moments.”
After losing 4-1 to Delaware on Monday night, Rutgers desperately needed a bounce-back win against Princeton. The Knights earned their first win against the Tigers since 2021 and also avenged last season’s 2-1 defeat.
“One of the things we talked about before the game was that we had a horrible 10-minute spell against Delaware, but don’t let that affect the rest of your season,” McElderry said. “The guys did a really good job of learning from it and moving on from it.”
Rutgers will look to build off the win on the road against Lehigh. Monday’s game will kick off at 6 p.m. in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
“They just kinda grinded it out, we used almost everybody,” McElderry said. “Great performance from the guys.”
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