The College of Staten Island men's soccer program has quite a streak developing, as they have now won four-straight and have now gone over four games without conceding a goal. They will put those on the line this evening as they travel to take on Rutgers - Newark, who are also going in with a head of steam. Kick-off will be at 7:30pm in Newark.
CSI VS. RUTGERS-NEWARK AT-A-GLANCE
Matchup: CSI (6-2) vs. Rutgers-Newark (5-3-1)
Where: Frederick Douglass Field - 195 University Ave - Newark, NJ
Live Video:
https://rutgersnewarkathletics.com/watch/?Live=419&type=Live
Live Stats:
https://rutgersnewarkathletics.com/sidearmstats/msoc/summary
All-Time Series: RU-Newark leads, 14-5-3
Last Meeting: September 25, 2017 - RU-Newark won, 5-0
Players to Watch (CSI): CSI's recent four-game streak is coming with plenty of goal scoring.
Philip Lefkowitz is coming off of a two-goal performance and Man of the Match honors against John Jay on Saturday, and he now boasts five goals and a team-high five assists this season. With five goals in his last two games,
Joe Bolella is at seven goals this season for the Dolphins, while the team leader is fellow sophomore
Bryant Navarro, who has dumped in eight goals with a pair of assists.
Wilson Quintero,
Miguel Morales and
Erick Conde have been steadfast on the back line for CSI and they will look to keep a powerful Raiders offense in check tonight.
Christian Carucci has been the bulk lifter in goal this season, and boasts a 1.14 goals against average having made 14 saves thus far.
Players to Watch (RU): It's been a great start so far for RU's Franco Catania, who in seven starts has net eight goals and has added three assists to lead the way offensively. He also paces the Raiders with 27 shots. Second in that department is Pape Taha, who has 26 shots and is tied with three others with three goals. Joshua Breton-Jones leads the team overall with four assists. The Raiders have a balanced attack that features 12 different goal-scorers this season. Look for freshman Joe Alba and sophomore Kevin Ocampo to be steady in the back, while Christian Andrach has been the team's primary keeper. He has a record of 4-3-1, boasting a very robust .791 save percentage and a 1.08 goals against average.
News & Notes: These two teams have been meeting frequently since 1987, but the Scarlet Raiders have owned the series of late. RU is 8-0-2 in their last 10 over CSI, and that includes a 5-0 shutout last year at the CSI Soccer Complex. In their last five wins, RU has out-scored CSI, 36-0, so the Dolphins will have a tall order in reversing things this afternoon. CSI is also 0-8-1 all-time in games played at RU-Newark. The lone non-loss was back in 2012, when CSI tied RU as part of the ECAC Postseason Tournament, a game CSI would ultimately win on penalty kicks. CSI's last win in regulation time against RU came way back in 2001, a 2-1 win in Staten Island. CSI's Bolella and Navarro both led CSI in scoring last season with six goals apiece as freshmen, and the duo are already over that mark this season, combining for 15 goals on 47 shots. CSI has not allowed a goal in 374 minutes of play, and have lined up four straight shutouts. It's their longest shutout streak since 2005, when they posted 380 shutout minutes over a four game stretch that same year.