ORLANDO, Fla.  (November 2, 2013) – Redshirt sophomore J.P Correa (Montville, N.J.) thwarted the shutout in the 88^th minute on Saturday against UCF, but the Scarlet Knights fell just short in a 2-1 loss to the Knights at UCF Soccer Complex.

The loss drops RU to 5-10-2 overall and puts the Scarlet Knights into eighth place at the end of the regular season at 2-5-1 in the American Athletic Conference (AAC).  RU will open AAC Tournament play taking on No. 9 Cincinnati on Friday, Nov. 8 in the play-in game in Louisville, Ky.  The winner of the play-in game will advance to face top-seed Louisville the following day on Saturday, Nov. 9.

UCF upped its unbeaten streak to eight straight and improved to 7-4-5 overall and 4-1-3 in the conference.

Rutgers outshot UCF, 15-11, and held a 13-0 advantage in corner kicks.

UCF held a 1-0 lead at the intermission on a late goal by Gabriel Zapponi.  In the game’s 39^th minute, Omar Vallejo and Mason Miller set up Zapponi for a shot across the goal and into the Scarlet Knight net.

UCF’s leading scorer Romario Williams put the Knights up 2-0 midway through second half play.  Williams, the second leading scorer in the AAC, put away his ninth tally of the year off an assist from Matthew Gaskins in the 52^nd minute.

Correa’s goal came with two minutes remaining in the second half.  The redshirt sophomore, who missed all but four games last season with injury, was set up by senior forward Kene Eze (Sayreville, N.J.) and reserve midfielder Dimitri Vassiliadis (Franklin, N.J).  Vassiliadis had the set up to Eze, who centered his pass for Correa to net his first goal of the season.

The Scarlet Knights, however, were kept away from the UCF goal and a chance at an equalizer in the time remaining.

Both keepers – RU’s David Greczek (Fairfield, N.J.) and UCF’s Sebastian Evers – collected four saves.

The Rutgers men’s soccer team returns to action on Friday, Nov. 8 against Cincinnati in the AAC Play-In game.  Stay tuned to ScarletKnights.com for more information about the AAC Championships.

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-RU-