NJAC Release | 2015 Schedule
PITMAN, N.J. (August 17, 2015) – The Rutgers University-Newark men's soccer team was picked to finish third in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) according to a poll of the league's 10 head coaches. The results of the poll were released Monday morning.
Montclair State University was picked first, Rutgers University-Camden was second and Kean University followed the Scarlet Raiders in fourth place. Rowan University, Richard Stockton, William Paterson University, The College of New Jersey, Ramapo College and New Jersey City University rounded out the ranks.
MSU saw six of the 10 first-place votes, Rutgers-Camden received two with R-N and Rowan each receiving one.
The Scarlet Raiders finished 7-2-0 in the conference and 16-6-0 overall last year en route to an appearance in the second round of the 2014 NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship. The Scarlet Raiders earned their first-ever national tournament win, defeating Babson College in the first round.
Rutgers-Newark has improved its play in the NJAC every year of late. The Raiders went 3-3-2 in 2011, 5-4-0 in 2012, 6-2-1 in 2013 and then 7-2-0 last season. R-N advanced to the NJAC title match in 2013, achieving the program's first-ever appearances in the conference final and national tournament, and went back to the national tourney to get its first-ever NCAA win in 2014.
Rutgers-Newark returns a trio of all-conference performers from last year's team, including junior forward
Charlie O'Connell, junior midfielder
Hubert Dul, and the reigning NJAC Goalkeeper of the Year in senior
Matt Broomall.
The extremely competitive NJAC sent two teams to the NCAA Tournament a year ago in conference champion Montclair St. and the Scarlet Raiders. In 2013, Rutgers-Newark, Rutgers-Camden and MSU all represented the conference at the national tournament.
The Scarlet Raiders kick off the 2015 season with a pair of back-to-back home matches on Alumni Field September 1 and 2 at 7:30 p.m. against the United States Merchant Marine Academy and Brooklyn College.
The NJAC opener will take place on R-N's home turn when the team welcomes TCNJ to town on September 19, with the Scarlet Raiders closing their schedule at MSU on Wednesday, October 28. The NJAC Tournament is slated to begin October 31st with two first round matchups between seeds 3-6.
2015 NJAC Men's Soccer
Preseason Coaches Poll |
|
| 1. Montclair State (6) |
| 2. Rutgers-Camden (2) |
| 3. Rutgers-Newark (1) |
| 4. Kean |
| 5. Rowan (1) |
| 6. Stockton |
| 7. William Paterson (dark horse) |
| 8. TCNJ |
| 9. Ramapo |
| 10. New Jersey City |
|
| First Place Votes In Parentheses |
