RU faces difficult schedule

Rutgers head men’s soccer coach Dan Donigan will not back down from his preseason claims, nor make any concessions.

He knew what he was getting into when he made the Scarlet Knights’ schedule. And he has no regrets, despite what has transpired through two games.

Rutgers squandered 1-0 leads Friday and Sunday, respectively, against Duke with 13 seconds remaining and against Elon in the 75th minute. The Knights salvaged a tie against the Blue Devils after two extra sessions, but surrendered the lead for good against the Phoenixes in the 77th minute.

So close to two wins against two strong opponents, Rutgers instead came away with an 0-1-1 record.

“We have to somehow find a way to persevere through those situations,” Donigan said, “and find a way to manage those games and manage those leads, so we can come away with positive results.”

It is a similar script to when the Knights dropped six games by one goal last season and just missed the NCAA Tournament. So Donigan is fully aware of the impact each game has on the team’s RPI.

Yet he remains patient and willing to let the process take its course, insisting Rutgers is deeper, healthier and more experienced than a year ago.

“I have the confidence that we’re good enough now to compete and play against anybody in the country,” Donigan said. “I wouldn’t have challenged them with this schedule if I didn’t feel that we’re capable of getting the results that we’re hopeful to get.”

Part of the issue in Rutgers’ opening weekend, Donigan believes, is that the Knights shied away from aggressive play that earned them early leads.

Rutgers outshot Duke, 8-6, in the first half, but the Blue Devils dominated that category in the second half, 17-3. Eventually, Duke knocked in a deflected shot near the back post in the final seconds.

The Knights played back on their heels, desperate to hang onto their lead.

“It’s simply just having a mindset to continue to play and push the game a little bit when you’re up 1-0 and finishing those games off, as opposed to playing for the result,” Donigan said. “You have a tendency to kind of sit back and the wide guys get tucked in and pulled down a little bit to kind of build a more defensive wall for ourselves. That can hurt you.”

And that mental resolve comes with maturity as a team over the course of a season, Donigan said. Much of Rutgers’ core is still young and prone to miscommunication.

It is something Donigan wants to convey to the team in practice this week, especially with Akron  —a top-10 team — looming Sunday at Yurcak Field.

“There are no breaks, there’s no plays off, there’s no mental lapses,” he said. “You have to play a complete game against the schedule that we have.”

But the fact that Rutgers’ few problems do not center on anything tactical is a positive for Donigan.

He said he is happy with what he has received thus far from his back four, particularly freshman goalkeeper David Greczek, who is replacing long-time starter Kevin McMullen.

“The goals [against] really for the most part were for second chances and rebounds and deflected shots,” Donigan said. “They weren’t so much a mistake from the goalie or the back four. So I’m really pleased with those guys.”

The Knights are also still tweaking their formation and depth chart, trying to find what ultimately clicks.

That is Donigan’s preference until about midseason, when he hopes to have Rutgers peaking.

“You’re going to get thrown curveballs throughout the season,” Donigan said. “You’ve got to roll with the punches as you get hit. It’s inevitable, it always happens every season. Guys get hurt, guys don’t perform consistently and you have to make changes and tweak things a little bit.”