Nick Collins red card plagues Rutgers men's soccer in loss to Providence
The Rutgers men’s soccer team lost 1-0 on the road to Providence on Friday night. The Scarlet Knights (3-2, 0-0) started the game with momentum, but a red card turned the tide in favor of the Friars (3-1-1, 0-0), resulting in a shutout win.
As seen in every game this season, Rutgers came out of the gates hot offensively. The Knights recorded four shots in the first 10 minutes, highlighted by graduate student forward Ola Maeland forcing Providence goalkeeper Lukas Burns into a save and junior forward Ian Abbey hitting the post.
Rutgers had to slow down its attack, though, as sophomore defender Nick Collins was sent off. This was the third straight game in which a Knight defender received a red card, all coming in the first half.
With the man advantage, the Friars began to settle into the game, as expected. It was still scoreless at halftime, but Providence had the 6-5 shot advantage despite Rutgers having six corners, five more than the former.
It seemed like the Knights would hunker down in the second half and play for the tie, just like how they ultimately defended their lead in the second half against Lehigh after losing freshman defender Arnar Adalsteinsson.
That defensive strategy did not work for long. Five minutes into the second half, the Friars opened the scoring through Rhode Island transfer Kevin Castañeda, who netted his 1st career Providence goal. The Friars almost scored a 2nd goal not even 2 minutes later, but junior goalkeeper Ciaran Dalton did well to deny Pepe Lora from finding the back of the net.
Providence's consistent offensive pressure continued as it attempted shot after shot. Dalton was the difference between Rutgers being down 1 goal or as many as 6 goals, as he kept his team in the game with his crucial saves.
Despite Dalton’s heroics with his eight saves, the Friars saw out the shutout victory and handed the Knights their second defeat of the season. The red card to Collins completely turned the game in Providence’s favor and forced Rutgers to play defensively, allowing its opponent a season-high 21 shots and nine shots on target.
After two straight road games, the Knights will return to Yurcak Field on Busch campus on Monday for an in-state rivalry match against Seton Hall. Kick-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus and 88.7 WRSU-FM.
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