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Tournament Bracket | Tournament Central | All-NJAC Announcement
GLASSBORO, N.J. (November 3, 2017) – The second-seeded Rutgers University-Newark men's soccer team will travel to top-seeded Rowan University looking for its first-ever New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championship Tournament title and automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship Saturday night at 7 p.m.
The Scarlet Raiders advanced to the NJAC final with a 2-1 win over third-seeded Montclair State University Wednesday night. Rutgers-Newark received goals from senior
Isaiah Kuris and sophomore
Fabio De Sousa in the win, erasing a 1-0 first-half deficit with an all-around strong performance.
Rowan topped fifth-seeded Stockton University, scoring the game's only goal with less than one second remaining in double overtime to advance to the tournament final.
The meeting will be the second this season between the two nationally-ranked powers with the Profs earning a 1-0 overtime triumph back on October 14. Rutgers-Newark is currently ranked No. 12 by D3soccer.com and No. 14 by the United Soccer Coaches, while Rowan is sixth in the USC ranks and No. 10 in D3soccer.com. The two sides were in the top-15 of both polls when they first met, and have remarkably gone 36-4-1 combined.
Rutgers-Newark Schedule | Rutgers-Newark Stats
The Scarlet Raiders have won four-straight since falling in Glassboro, outscoring their foes by a 12-3 count during that span. Rutgers-Newark boasts a plus-47 goal differential in its 21 games, scoring 57 times while only allowing 10 goals against. Defensively, the Scarlet Raiders lead the NJAC in goals against average (.47) and shutouts (13). Offensively, R-N is second in assists and shots and third in goals and points.
On Tuesday, R-N saw an incredible seven players earn All-NJAC awards. Senior
Hubert Dul, sophomore
Andres Medina, and sophomore
Fabio De Sousa were first-teamers, junior
Stefano Muniz, junior
Brandon Goldy and senior
Arek Szoldrowski were second-teamers and junior
Breno Lustosa was an honorable mention All-NJAC selection.
Additionally, Dul, Medina and De Sousa all received major awards as voted on by the league's head coaches. Dul was the NJAC Midfielder of the Year, Medina was the NJAC Goalkeeper of the Year and De Sousa was the offensive Player of the Year.
A balanced team, the Scarlet Raiders have nine players with at least five points and five players with at least 10. Muniz (16), senior
Chigozie Atubi (20), Dul (21) and De Sousa (42) all have 15 or more points, with a total of 22 Rutgers-Newark players pocketing at least one point to date in 2017.
Rowan Schedule | Rowan Stats
The Profs also placed seven on the all-conference squads. Sophomore Modou Sowe was the NJAC's Defensive Player of the Year and midfielder Tyler Logar garnered the Logar Leadership Award. Rowan Head Coach Scott Baker was named the league's Coach of the Year, an honor Rutgers-Newark Head Coach
Kevin East received after the 2016 season.
The Profs went 8-0-1 in NJAC play to earn the top seed in the conference tournament, going 10-2-0 at home and 5-0-1 on the road. They have won two-straight matches since a scoreless draw at Ramapo on October 21 and their last loss came against current No. 1 Messiah College on September 15.
Tickets to Saturday's final are $5 for adults and $2 for children, students and seniors.
MSU vs Rutgers-Newark Photo Gallery | Senior Night Photo Gallery
NJAC Semifinal Box Scores:
Rutgers-Newark 2, MSU 1
Rowan 1, Stockton 0 (2 OT)
Last Meeting:
Rowan 1, Rutgers-Newark 0 (OT)
Follow @ScarletRaiders and @RUN_Soc on twitter all postseason long!
