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Forward's goal ends Rutgers' unbeaten road record

Junior defender Drew Morgan clears the ball during Saturday’s 1-0 loss at No. 4 Penn State. It was Morgan’s first appearance after suffering a head injury Sept.12. – Photo by Edwin Gano

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — In the opening 10 seconds of the first half, Penn State forward Connor Maloney had already made his presence felt, when his shot from distance struck the far post of the Rutgers men’s soccer team’s goal. 

With 12 minutes remaining in regulation, it was once again Maloney who put the game into his own feet. 

The reigning Big Ten Offensive and ECAC Division I Player of the Week found himself through on goal, following an overtop ball from midfielder Brian James off a turnover in the midfield. 

Maloney proceeded to muscle off his defender and take a touch to the right, past charging Scarlet Knights’ goalkeeper David Greczek and scored on the empty net to clinch the game 1-0 for the No. 4 Nittany Lions (10-0-1, 4-0-0) Saturday night at Jeffrey Field.

It was Maloney’s conference-high eighth goal of the season and a justified result given the difference in play: Penn State outshot Rutgers, 22-5.

It was also a disappointing performance in head coach Dan Donigan’s eyes, given the team’s impressive road draw at No. 17 Michigan State a week ago.

“I just feel that when you play a game like this, in this environment, on the road, against a good team, you can still get a good end result, and we weren’t far from it,” Donigan said. “And again, for me, the minor little details of the game led to that game-winning goal by Maloney, who … made a great play, but that absolutely could have been stopped.”

Rutgers (3-5-1, 1-2-1) appeared to be on its way to stealing another point on the road following a dismal first half.

Junior defender Drew Morgan returned to start the second half following several weeks out with a head injury, and Penn State appeared to be fatigued playing its second game in four days.

But despite the improved second half, the Knights struggled to get anything going in the attack.

In fact, it took 55 minutes for Rutgers to register a shot on goal, when a hopeful long-range effort from junior forward J.P. Correa went straight at Penn State goalkeeper Andrew Wolverton. 

Part of the struggle to build consistent attacks, or even possession, came from the relentless pressure the Lions presented.

Playing a unique three-back system, Penn State clogged the midfield with five players and was sound with its defensive shifts and positioning. 

Donigan attempted to counter in the second half by playing three in central midfield and moving junior defender Mitchell Taintor out on the wing. But nothing seemed to work against the Lions’ defense, which ranks first in the Big Ten in shutouts and goals against average (0.27).

“We just needed something a little more to threaten these guys a little more … but we still weren’t getting much going forward,” Donigan said. “We just tried to let [Taintor] loose a little bit, but obviously, it didn’t work very well.”

The three-back formation gave Rutgers plenty of problems defensively. With two outside midfielders playing as both wingers and outside backs, the Lions’ width on the field was difficult for the Knights to keep track of.

With Rutgers’ defense spread out trying to mark the extra midfielders, Maloney and forward Mikey Minutillo, second in Big Ten with five goals, had more room to operate in and combine with their teammates.

This was evident in the first half with the Lions outshooting Rutgers, 12-0, and including two one-on-one breakaways that saw Greczek, once again, standing on his head for much of the game.

“They were very organized with their play,” Morgan said of Penn State. “Their shape was pretty strong, and we couldn’t break through it and then we couldn’t keep the ball. That was probably one of the worst soccer [games] I feel like we’ve played.”

The win for Penn State was its fourth consecutive 1-0 victory against Big Ten competition and makes it a perfect 7-0-0 at home.

The loss puts an end to the Knights’ unbeaten record on the road and sees them winless in their last four games, scoring just one goal.

At the midpoint of the season, Rutgers’ chances to increase its RPI are continuing to dwindle. The loss against the team it beat 4-1 last year at Yurcak Field leaves few positives to take from. 

“We all felt at halftime that it wasn’t a good showing,” said sophomore midfielder Erik Sa. “I think in the second half, we came out pretty strong, so I don’t know too many positives to come out of this game, to be completely honest with you.  But definitely, we’re going to watch the tape [for] negatives and figure out how to solve [them].” 

For updates on the Rutgers men’s soccer team, follow @SeanStewartRU and @TargumSports on Twitter.


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