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2 p.m.
Men's Tennis
vs #19 University of Southern California
Men's Soccer Falls to Rutgers in Exhibition game
Rutgers Sports Information
FORT WAYNE, NJ (AUGUST 26, 2000) - Although it was only an exhibition, the Rutgers University men's soccer team made a great, early-season statement by defeating preseason #7 Duke, 2-1, August 26 at the 2000 Soccer Showcase in Fort Wayne, IN.The Scarlet Knights rallied from a 1-0 deficit with two-second half goals to knock off the Blue Devils before 1,245 fans at Indiana-Purdue at Fort Wayne. Duke, which tied Rutgers 2-2 during the regular season last season, is coming off a 16-1-3 mark in 1999 and was picked to win the ACC title in the conference's preseason poll.
The Blue Devils opened the scoring at the 27:35 mark, scoring off a scramble in front of the Rutgers goal. The Blue Devils took their 1-0 lead into the half, but a Rutgers rally in the second half changed the contest's outcome.
The Scarlet Knights struck for their first goal at the 58:07 mark, as freshman striker Sherif El Bialy (Cairo, Egypt) tallied his first RU goal off a feed from sophomore Guy Abrahamson (Livingston, NJ). Abrahamson sent a long ball into the box for Sherif, who scored after corralling the well-placed feed.
The score remained knotted until the 71:49 mark, when junior Dennis Ludwig (Mt. Laurel, NJ), last season's leading scorer with 19 points, registered an unassisted goal to break the deadlock. Ludwig's tally stood up for the remaining 18 minutes as Rutgers scored the early season win.
"This was a great, early-season match," said head coach Bob Reasso, who began his 20th season at Rutgers on a positive note. "We played well and executed well when we needed to. The team battled back all night and their resilience paid off with a hard-fought win."
Sophomore Ricky Zinter (Penfield, NY) started his first career match in goal and played well, allowing just the one goal in 90 minutes of action. He also stopped seven shots, while his Blue Devil counterpart, Jeff Haywood, turned away six. The two teams each managed 15 shots, while Rutgers held a 7-3 edge in corner kicks.
Preseason All-American David Boutilier (Sparta, NJ) left the match in the first half, following the Duke goal, after suffering a leg injury in the scramble in front of the net. He was taken to a local hospital for X-rays as a precautionary measure.
The Scarlet Knights will close out the exhibition season tomorrow, when they play the winner of the IUPFW-Indiana match. Indiana, which captured the 1999 National Championship, is the top-ranked team in the country.
