PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Rutgers men’s soccer 2022 season came to a close on Thursday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament as host Penn defeated the Scarlet Knights 3-0.
Rutgers, who won its first Big Ten Championship last weekend, was making its 18th NCAA appearance and first since 2015.
The Scarlet Knights finish the year at 10-5-6 overall for its best record since the 2015 campaign.
The Quakers got on the board early in the contest’s second minute and owned a 2-0 advantage at half. Ben Stitz was able to take advantage of a clear off a Penn corner for the opening score while Stas Korzeniowski was able to find the back of the net off a rebound on the initial shot from Michael teDuits.
Graduate student Thomas DeVizio made a defensive save in the 38th minute to stop Stitz from adding another first-half tally.
38′ | DENIED by Tommy DeVizio
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— Rutgers Men’s Soccer (@RUMensSoccer) November 18, 2022
Stitz, however, gave the Quakers its third goal in the second in the 70th minute depositing the ball into the net from the left side of the box.
Ciaran Dalton made five stops in goal for the Scarlet Knights while Penn’s Nick Christoffersen turned away five Rutgers shots.
Penn outshot Rutgers 16-12, although the Scarlet Knights held a 7-5 advantage in the second half. RU fired off five on goal with a pair from Jackson Temple.
“I thought our guys pushed as hard as they could,” said head coach Jim McElderry. “I’m really proud of how they played the game tonight. It’s been a long couple of weeks for our guys in terms of going through the Big Ten and then the Big Ten Tournament and the emotion of winning the conference tournament on Sunday. I asked these players early on in the year to write their own history at Rutgers. We have great soccer history at Rutgers and they did that this year in winning the Big Ten Tournament and being the first men’s team to win a Big Ten Conference tournament.. I think it’s been a great journey for our group. We are very disappointed not to advance tonight, but I’m also really proud of the group.”
Goals
2′ (Penn) – Ben Stitz (Aaron Messer)
31′ (Penn) – Stas Korzeniowski (Michael teDutis)
70′ (Penn) – Ben Stitz (Mateo…
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