Rutgers men's soccer gives away lead against Northwestern, suffers 2nd straight loss
It was another tough defeat for the Rutgers men’s soccer team on Friday night, falling 2-1 to Northwestern at Yurcak Field on Busch campus. The Scarlet Knights (4-7-2, 1-4-1) handed the Wildcats (7-5-0, 1-4-0) their first Big Ten win of the season.
The game started off slowly, with neither side creating clear-cut goal-scoring chances.
That would change in the 29th minute, as junior midfielder Nestor Cabrera received the ball at the top of the box. He spun around and shot the ball into the bottom right corner of the net for his 2nd goal of the season, and Rutgers led 1-0.
Northwestern almost responded seconds after conceding. Off the kickoff, the Wildcats quickly got into the Knights’ box, but Brandon Clagette rattled his shot off the left post.
Northwestern's offensive pressure did not stop. The Wildcats pushed for the equalizing goal before the break, which paid off. Similarly to Cabrea’s goal, center-back Nigel Prince received the ball and hit it first time into the back of the net in the 44th minute.
With 15 seconds left in the first half, Northwestern came inches away from taking the lead. Italo Addimandi forced junior goalkeeper Ciaran Dalton into a diving save, tipping the ball over the crossbar.
Rutgers was outshot 6-3 and lost all of its momentum after conceding right before halftime.
After going into the break somberly, the Knights came out of the locker room with intensity.
Two minutes into the second half, freshman forward Matty Lynch played a pass over to senior midfielder Curt Calov, who hit it first time, but his shot fired off the left post.
The game’s tempo slowed down, but the Wildcats took the lead in the 68th minute. Bryant Mayer did well to keep the ball in play, sliding a pass over to Akinjide Awujo, who tapped the ball into the back of the net for the go-ahead goal.
With 10 minutes to play, Rutgers began knocking on the door, looking for a late goal. Off a corner kick, the ball eventually fell to sophomore defender Nick Collins, but his shot was saved off the line by Northwestern goalkeeper Rafael Ponce de León.
The Knights had every player up the pitch looking for a goal, but fell short and suffered their second straight defeat.
Rutgers is back at home next Friday against UCLA. The game will kickoff at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus and 88.7 WRSU-FM.
“I thought the guys played really hard tonight,” said head coach Jim McElderry. “I thought especially in the second half, I thought we played well … I think one of our issues is when we are playing well we’re just not seeming to get that goal. I thought when it was 1-1 there was chances for us to make it 2-1 and their keeper made a couple of good saves. We just gotta keep pushing, it’s hard right now because we feel like we deserve more than we’re getting but that’s the game."
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