NEWARK, NJ – Rutgers-Newark went toe-to-toe with red-hot Richard Stockton in a New Jersey Athletic Conference soccer match, falling 1-0 to the Ospreys on Alumni Field on a late goal.
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Sophomore forward Rafael Duarte headed in a cross from the left side by junior midfielder Pat Tolomeo in the 88th minute as the torrid duo lifted Richard Stockton to its sixth straight victory, but the Scarlet Raiders had chances in the second half to reverse the decision.
The late goal negated an outstanding effort by the Scarlet Raider backline led by junior captain Luis Valle (West Orange, NJ/West Orange) which throttled an Osprey attack which had poured in 29 goals in its last five outings, averaging nearly six goals a contest.
In a match which was a close from start to finish, the Ospreys (9-3-1, NJAC 4-1-0) got the break which has eluded the Scarlet Raiders (6-6-0, NJAC 0-4-0) all season.
Sophomore forward Innocent Buule (West New York, NJ/Memorial) missed just wide right on a chance in the box which would have staked Rutgers-Newark to the lead with exactly six minutes left. Reserve forward Joe Caamano (Linden, NJ/Linden) had made a run to the left corner, beat his defender, and cut to the goal to deliver a cross from near the endline which Buule almost redirected inside the unguarded far post.
Duarte then netted his eighth goal in the last six matches while Tolomeo kept alive his six-match point streak with the assist which came at 87:16.
With 55 ticks remaining, sophomore forward Jeff Vazquez (New Milford, NJ/New Milford) rifled a shot in traffic from the right side of the box which was just wide left.
Junior goalkeeper Matt Hart needed just two saves to post his fifth shutout of the season and improve his personal record in the net to 7-1-1.
Sophomore goalkeeper Kyle Perdelwitz (West Orange, NJ/West Orange) tallied four saves and got two team saves from the Raider defense to keep things close.
The Ospreys held a 14-9 edge in shots and took two more corner kicks (5-3) than the hosts.
It was the fourth shutout loss in as many NJAC games for Rutgers-Newark, and the second one-goal loss in league play.
The Raiders travel to the College of Staten Island on Monday at 4 p.m. to begin a string of three non-conference contests over the next week.
