MADISON, NJ – Rutgers-Newark junior goalkeeper Jonathan Frances posted his eighth shutout of the season as the Scarlet Raiders advanced to the ECAC Metro Championship finals with a 1-0 upset of top-seeded Drew University in Ranger Stadium.

BOX SCORE & PLAY-BY-PLAY

Frances posted two saves in each period to offset a 14-5 deficit in shots by Rutgers-Newark and sophomore Daniel Naranjo scored the lone goal in the 48th minute as the Raiders reversed the 2010 semifinal result.  Drew, which finished the season with a 15-4-1 record, stopped Rutgers-Newark, 3-0, in last year's ECAC semifinal showdown in Madison.

On the Raiders' only shot of the second half, Naranjo split two defenders on the left side to race onto a lofted through pass by junior midfielder Nick Kyprianou from near midfield.  He drew out Ranger junior goalkeeper Rich Boland who guessed correctly on the shot, but Naranjo's hard low blast to Boland's left got under the keeper's grasp and rolled into the right side of the goal just inside the post.

Rutgers-Newark will face second-seeded William Paterson, a 3-2 winner over Richard Stockton in overtime in the second semifinal match, in an All-New Jersey Athletic Conference final.

Frances made two saves and defenders Mike Trenard, Jason Chung, Robi Rosario and Bernardo Valle helped fend off seven scoring opportunities in the opening nine minutes by Drew.  After that opening burst, the Raiders played evenly with the hosts to take a deadlock into intermission.

The Raiders (13-8-2) equaled the program record for wins in a season set in 2009 when the Raiders went 13-6-4 only to fall in the opening round of the ECAC Metro playoffs to Farmingdale State.

The Raiders and WPU have played to a pair of overtime decisions this season.  The teams deadlocked 1-1 in double overtime in their NJAC regular-season match.  Then the Pioneers edged Rutgers-Newark in overtime in the opening round of the conference tournament which also was played on Alumni Field in Newark.

Rutgers-Newark, which is playing in its fourth consecutive ECAC tournament, reached the finals in 2008, losing the championship in a shootout round at William Paterson.

The win over Drew was the first for Rutgers-Newark since the series opener in 1959.  The Raiders are now 2-10-1 against the Rangers.