Davide Caputo dribbles the ball. Caputo scored the lone goal for the Profs. (Rowan Athletics)
No. 6 Rowan men’s soccer began New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) play on Saturday with a loss against the Rutgers-Newark Scarlet Raiders, 2-1. The Scarlett Raiders came into the game with a record of 6-2-1 and looked to begin their conference schedule off with a win. That dream, which seemed short-lived in the first 60 minutes, came true in the end.
“We just shut down, and thought we were the better team and that we would win in the second half, and we didn’t compete. I mean, hats off to Rutgers-Newark, because they fought harder and got two goals and won the half and won the game,” head coach Scott Baker said. “But I think for our focus and what we can control is you got to compete and you gotta work hard for 90 minutes and we worked hard for 45 today.”
Rowan arguably had their best first half of the season. The defending NJAC champions made sure their presence was felt with 10 shots in the half and five of them on goal. Rutgers-Newark goalkeeper had his work cut out for him, having to make four saves.
The first goal for the Profs came in the 16th minute off a cross from Luke McNamee to Davide Caputo. Caputo scored his fourth goal of the season and put his point total at 11 for the year.
“Honestly, today, it was just luck. I mean, getting to the ball and working hard to receive the cross and be in the box and make contact with it, that was luck, obviously it’s hard work,” Caputo said. “But yeah, I shot the ball, it rebounded off the goalkeeper, and before I could even think, it rebounded back off me and into the goal. So a little bit of luck mixed with hard work.”
A major story line entering this game was the NJAC’s leading goal scorer, Erick Cortes, with 11 goals on the year. Cortes versus Troiano is an electric matchup with 18 goals between the two attackers.
Rowan was in control until the 60th minute when the Scarlet Raiders finally got on the board with a successful penalty kick by Pablo Moreno tying the game up at one. Aiden McGuigan committed a yellow card penalty in the box resulting in the penalty kick.
“Honestly, it was just us making those little mistakes in the box. Just luck not going our way, like it did for our goal. But yeah, we brought them the whole second half. We were in there half the whole time moving it around, but we just couldn’t get one,” Caputp said. “And I couldn’t find the back of the net, that’s how it goes sometimes.”
Rutgers-Newark flipped the script in the second half, not allowing a single shot on goal and having four of their own, and it continued four minutes later with another goal. This time from Ian Brown off an assist from Ali Celik.
Pedro Flores played an excellent game to keep his team in it, saving four of five shots on goal. Rutgers-Newark faced 18 shots as a whole on top of that.
Coach Baker still wasn’t pleased with his team’s performance, even with the performance of the goalkeeper.
“I think he played well. So the credit does go to [Flores], but I don’t think our non scoring was because we weren’t putting ourselves in good positions to score. We weren’t taking good shots, and we played with zero urgency in the 18, the whole second half, and probably made it look a little bit better,” Baker said. “He made some saves and they were good, but it was more on us playing terrible than him playing good.”
Rowan wasn’t able to combat the defense of Rutgers-Newark in the remaining 30 minutes of play. Every chance fell short and every shot that missed was a glimmer of hope taken away as the clock winded down.
“Obviously, it’s disappointing when you let two goals up in that span. I think it’s just a lack of mental focus, but, yeah, we definitely have a really solid back line,” Ryan Cleary said. “It’s just about, trying to find some shut outs really. But definitely pleased with their ability, especially playing out of back and controlling the game tonight.”
Rowan dropped their first NJAC loss in a back and forth match that ultimately slipped from their grasp. As for Rutgers-Newark, they get a ranked win in comeback fashion against a No. 6 overall team.
The Profs will have a chance to get back on track this Wednesday against NJCU at home.
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