 "Photo: John Bologini/Staff Photographer")
The Rutgers men's soccer team will try to snap a two-game losing streak against local rival Monmouth University in a non-conference match in Long Branch today at 3 p.m.
The Scarlet Knights (4-4-3, 3-3-1 Big East) have lost two consecutive Big East contests to St. John's and Syracuse and need to get their season back on track to put them in position to make a run at the Big East Tournament.
"We're really playing to get into the NCAA Tournament," Rutgers coach Bob Reasso said.
The most pressing issue for Reasso's squad is burying its chances. In its 2-1 loss to Syracuse, the Knights had several scoring opportunities in the second half but were not able to convert.
"In the first half we played some of the best soccer we played all season, but we just didn't put the second chance away," Reasso said. "They scored on an ill-advised set piece that we shouldn't have given up to get back in the game. They weren't even in the game and the goal gave them confidence."
"We all played well," said sophomore defender Anthony Schiavino. "It was just one of those games where it just didn't go our way."
This team has set lofty goals for itself to be in the upper echelon of college soccer, and teams in this elite group always seem to find a way to score when they need it the most.
The Knights have also been trying to get healthy, as several of their key players have been banged up of late. Freshman midfielder and leading scorer Sammy Castellanos has been fighting tendonitis in his knee over the past week and should be healthy enough to regain his scoring touch by today. Sophomore forward/midfielder Gustavo Mora has been sidelined since the Villanova match with a strained hamstring and the current prognosis is tha Mora will be out until the latter portion of the season.
"It's very frustrating," Reasso said. "But I tell my assistant coaches that when we go out on the practice field, we coach the players we have."
Also, sophomore forward Chris Karcz has finally recovered from a bout with mononucleosis this summer, but the illness has rendered him 15 pounds lighter than his usaul playing weight. Karcz will be moved to the midfield against Monmouth to take some of the scoring pressure off of him.
"Chris does not have mono again, but he's 15 pounds lighter," Reasso said. "So much of his game is based on power and strength that it has been tough for him. He needs to get another goal, but we tell him not to dwell on the past and just focus on his next chance."
Rutgers soccer trainer Dan Watson has been kept busy with this team all season.
"Dan has done a great job this season keeping Sammy and everyone else healthy," Reasso said. "I don't make the decision whether to play a player. We listen to Dan and our team doctor. I never take a chance with a player like that."
RU should be able to use Monmouth to get its ship righted, considering the Hawks have not played very well this season, coming into the match with an overall record of 3-7 and 1-2 in the Northeast Conference.
Castellanos still leads the team in points with 11 (four goals, three assists) and has been the most consistent offensive performer for Rutgers this season. Junior forward Sherif El Bialy, who scored the team's lone goal in a 2-1 loss at Syracuse last weekend, is second with eight points (three goals, two assists).
"Sherif has really come into form late in the season," Reasso said.
Despite giving up four goals in his last two matches, senior goalkeeper Ricky Zinter has been solid in goal all year for the Knights. His goals against average rose to 1.14 after the Syracuse match, but it does not reflect all the would-be goals he has stopped at other points during the year.
Senior Guy Abrahamson and junior Don Gray have spearheaded the Knights defensive efforts this season, along with Schiavino and sophomore Rory Fitzgerald. This is a tough, confident and physical group that almost dares teams to score on them.
"It's just been playing together," Gray said. "I think we have one of the best defenses in the Big East. We have such a tough job, to prevent goals. But offense wins games and defense wins championships."
Monmouth, who were routed 5-1 when these two teams squared off last year at Yurcak Field, have lost three of its last four and will look to shock the Knights on its home field.
Offensively, sophomore midfielder Nick Randazzo leads the Hawks offensively with 11 points on the season (four goals, three assists). Randazzo, a product of Cumberland High School, scored MU's only goal in last season's match. Junior midfielder Joe Sellitto is second on the team in points with eight (three goals and two assists).
Freshman Arthur Satterwhite has started all but one of Monmouth's 10 matches in net, giving up 18 goals in slightly more than 900 minutes of work for a 1.76 GAA. RU will try and take advantage of Satterwhite's inexperience. In last season's meeting, Rutgers peppered Monmouth with 33 shots over the course of the match, so one can assume the Hawks' defense is not exactly airtight.
"We're just looking to go out and play the way we are capable of playing. Their guys played with our guys and they are desperate to beat us. There are no breathers in our schedule" Reasso said.
Rutgers will return to Yurcak Field with a matchup with the No. 13 South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday night at 7 p.m.
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