Rutgers men’s soccer defeats Delaware 2-0 in season opener

The Rutgers men’s soccer team began its most anticipated season in several years with a steady 2-0 victory over Delaware on Thursday night at Yurcak Field. Captain Thomas DeVizio and Jackson Temple scored while goalkeeper Oren Asher made four saves in delivering a clean sheet.

It didn’t take long for the Scarlet Knights to get on the scoreboard as DeVizio, a captain, made a tremendous individual play in disrupting Delaware goalie Gonzalo Bartoli. The loose ball was collected by Nico Rosamilia, who then delivered the ball back to DeVizio for the easy goal in just the 10th minute of the game.

In the 29th minute, Ola Maeland drew a foul inside the box and a penalty kick was awarded to Rutgers. Jackson Temple delivered with a commanding shot low in the right corner of the net to give the Scarlet Knights a 2-0 lead.

The Rutgers defense kept the Blue Hens at bay and Asher delivered the 8th shutout of his career. RU held a 13-11 shot advantage and a 6-2 edge in corners in the game.

Each time picked up three yellow cards in the contest in addition to Delaware’s Zach Golden being sent off with a red card in the 53rd minute of the game.

“There was a lot of emotion from both teams in the first game of the season,” said head coach Jim McElderry. “I was happy with our mentality throughout the game and scoring early. Our guys in the back were solid and really limited chances. We’ll keep working to get more comfortable with each other, but this was a great result.”

While Rutgers has virtually its entire team back from last season, three freshmen drew starts with Rosamilia, Matthew Acosta and Joey Zalinsky making their collegiate debuts to begin the game. One notable absence was captain Pablo Avila, who did not play on Thursday night. Overall, 16 Scarlet Knights saw action in the season opening victory.

Rutgers hosts Temple on Monday, August 30 at 7 p.m. at Yurcak Field. The Owls opened the season against no. 10 Seton Hall on Thursday and drew a 0-0 result. This will be a big test for the Scarlet Knights ahead of a road rivalry game against Princeton on September 3. Monday night’s game will steam live on Big Ten+.