Complete 2015 Schedule
2014 Results
NEWARK, N.J. (June 19, 2015) – Rutgers University-Newark Head Women's Soccer Coach
Bill Bustamante announced his team's 2015 schedule on Friday afternoon.
Coming off the best season in program history in which the program reached its first-ever New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) tournament and won its first-ever postseason game, the Scarlet Raiders will embark on a 20-match campaign beginning on September 2 at Brooklyn College.
The Brooklyn contest will be the first of three against teams that reached the 2014 NCAA Division III Championship as NJAC foes Montclair State University and The College of New Jersey made the national tournament as well.
The Scarlet Raiders went 14-8-2 last year, advancing to the finals of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Metro/Upstate Championship and earning postseason wins against Lehman College and The Sage Colleges. R-N will face a number of teams it battled last year as it will look to improve upon a 4-4-1 NJAC mark from 2014.
Following the tilt at Brooklyn, Rutgers-Newark will head to Wilkes-Barre, Pa. for the Wilkes University Tournament, squaring off with host Wilkes and SUNY Cortland (September 5 and 6). The Scarlet Raider home-opener is slated for Wednesday, September 9 against the College of Staten Island before a pair of Saturday/Sunday road games at Babson College and Wellesley College in Massachusetts (September 12 and 13). The Scarlet Raiders downed CSI by a score of 4-1 last season and did not play Babson or Wellesley.
"Our non-conference contests have been selected to better prepare us to match up with our conference foes," said Bustamante. "Playing well and improving in several early-season tests should help us experience more success late in the season."
The final tune-up before the NJAC opener will be September 16 on Alumni Field in Newark when R-N hosts Old Westbury, and three days later the Scarlet Raiders will visit TCNJ in Ewing. Two-straight non-conference matches are next at Mount Saint Vincent (September 21) and Widener University (September 23), with the team's first NJAC home match of the year taking place against Rowan University Saturday, September 26.
"Playing in the NJAC every year is mentally and physically challenging," commented Bustamante. "It comes at you fast and doesn't let up, but I am confident our team will be ready for it."
The next week, Rutgers-Newark will take on Ramapo College and New Jersey City University in league tilts, and a two-match home stand will follow against non-conference foe Mount Saint Mary College (October 5) and NJAC rival Stockton University (October 10). The Raiders earned wins over Ramapo, NJCU and MSMC a year ago but fell twice at the hands of the Ospreys.
A mid-week NJAC game at William Paterson University and a home match vs. Kean University (October 17) will be next, and a non-league home match against Drew University – who the Scarlet Raiders defeated in overtime last season – will follow on Wednesday, October 21.
A visit to Rutgers University-Camden will be the team's final regular-season road match, with Montclair St. closing out the ledger in Newark on October 28. The Scarlet Raiders were victorious over Camden in 2014 but were defeated by MSU.
"Last year was a great year for us but we expect this year to be better," added Bustamante. "With four strong seniors and so much of our roster returning we are hoping to see more wins and another deep run into the postseason."
