The Stony Brook men’s soccer team could not capitalize on any of its nine shots, as the team was shutout for the sixth time in the last eight matches.
The Seawolves (4-8, 2-4 CAA) took on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights for a mid-week, non-conference matchup on Wednesday in New Jersey. Missed opportunities and sloppy defending culminated in a 2-0 Stony Brook loss.
Rutgers opened the scoring in the ninth minute when forward Colin Beasley found midfielder Pablo Avila inside the box with a pass. Avila brought the ball to his right foot and fired a shot to the near post which beat goalkeeper Edmond Kaiser to give the Scarlet Knights an early 1-0 lead.
Immediately following the opener, Stony Brook had opportunities to equalize. In a two-minute span, the team had three corners, but failed to capitalize or even challenge goalkeeper Ciaran Dalton.
In the 24th minute, midfielder Bas van Beckhoven was taken down in the Scarlet Knights’ box, for which the referee called a penalty. Forward Jonas Bičkus, the Seawolves’ top scorer, stepped up to take the kick but was denied by Dalton. Defender Evan Peters had a chance to score on the rebound but could not hit the target.
In the dying moments of the game, with Stony Brook desperately needing a goal, they were caught on a counter-attack. This resulted in defender Rondell Payne committing a penalty. The Scarlet Knights, contrary to the Seawolves, were able to convert through forward MD Myers. The goal marked the senior’s 11th of the season, which co-leads the nation.
It was a tale of two halves for the Stony Brook offense. In the first half, the team outshot Rutgers 6-4, generated four corners and forced Dalton to make three saves. In the second half, the Seawolves only took three shots to the Scarlet Knights’ eight. Kaiser, the reigning Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) defensive player of the week, made two outstanding saves to keep the Seawolves alive while the game was still 1-0. Ultimately, it was all for nothing, as the offense stalled.
Stony Brook’s leading shot-taker was midfielder Amit Magoz with two. Forwards Moses Bakabulindi, Adi Vaknin and Selcuk Kahveci all recorded a shot on goal along with Bičkus.
Stony Brook will look for its first-ever CAA road win when they take on the Delaware Blue Hens on Saturday, Oct. 15. Opening kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. The Blue Hens are 2-8-2 on the season and 0-5-1 in conference play. They are coming off a 4-2 defeat at the hands of UMBC, a former conference opponent of Stony Brook.
