Climbing the Mountain

It was a dream start that nobody on the Rutgers men’s soccer team could have drawn up better.
Ibrahim Kamara scored five minutes into the game, giving the Scarlet Knights a lead they never relinquished in a 2-0 victory over West Virginia last night at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium in the opening round of the Big East Tournament.
“The guys were great tonight,” said Rutgers head coach Bob Reasso. “[West Virginia] didn’t have very much of the ball in the first half and we were very good at keeping the ball in the first half, and I thought we totally controlled the pace and tempo.”
Kamara slipped behind the Mountaineer back line before maneuvering around goalkeeper Zach Johnson for his team-leading seventh goal of the season.
“[Kamara’s] been great all year for us,” Reasso said. “He came in a little bit out of shape last year and didn’t do what we wanted him to, but he got himself in shape prior to this season. He holds the ball as well as any forward in the country and that’s his fourth game-winner of the year. He’s been exceptional.”
Freshman Dan Parr doubled RU’s advantage in the 32nd minute when he headed home a corner from sophomore Robbie McLarney. It was the midfelder’s second goal in as many games.
Reasso said the second goal brought out the desperation in West Virginia (7-5-6). The Mountaineers pushed forward two goals behind, and despite outshooting RU 18-12, they could not breach the goal of sophomore Alex Morgans.
The George Mason transfer finished with four saves.
“I thought we played well in the second half and their stats were a bit inflated,” Reasso said. “We were unlucky to have a good goal disallowed and that always made for a dodger finish, because a third goal certainly would have put the game away.”
The victory could prove vital in RU’s push for an NCAA Tournament berth. A loss at WVU would have, in all likelihood, eliminated the Knights (9-9-0) from contention.
“I think our guys had a sense that they had to win this game,” Reasso said. “We were really disappointed by that loss against Villanova because it was a game they had to win and they outplayed us. You know, they went out and lost 5-0 [in their next game] then got eliminated [from the Big East Tournament last night] so that’s the way soccer is sometimes.”
The Knights now get a chance to pad their résumé with a trip to Queens Saturday night for a date with archrival St. John’s. The Red Storm beat RU Oct. 7, 2-0.
Reasso said that another performance like last night’s sends his team back to Morgantown for the Big East semifinals.
“We were determined [last night],” Reasso said. “Those are the type of performances you need in tourney play.”

1 comments

Jerry

Thu Nov 5 2009 10:32

Great job, soccer knights!!!

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