MADISON, NJ – Tournament MVP Jonathan Frances made a save to end the shootout round and help Rutgers-Newark claim its first ECAC Metro Championship over William Paterson following a 1-1 double-overtime tie.  The fourth-seeded Scarlet Raiders (13-8-3) took the shootout, 3-1, to upend the second-seeded Pioneers (14-4-4).

BOX SCORE & PLAY-BY-PLAY

All three matches between the New Jersey Athletic Conference rivals this season went into overtime – twice ending in 1-1 double-overtime ties.  But this time there was a shootout involved.

Frances dove to his left to block a shot by defender Joe Strawman as the Pioneers netted just one point in four tries in the shootout.

Senior forward Richie Villamar, freshman defender Ardian Djeka and sophomore midfielder Harrison Wagner scored on the Raiders' first three tries of the shootout to set the stage for Frances' tournament-ending play.

The title game was a rematch of the 2008 finals when WPU downed the Raiders in a shootout round following a 1-1 double-overtime tie.  Rutgers-Newark was playing in its fourth consecutive ECAC Metro Championship.

Francis notched five saves in regulation while WPU senior Zach Collins needed just two stops to send the match into extra time as the Pioneers built up a 14-8 advantage in shots.

The Raiders scored the first goal for the third time in as meetings between the teams this season when freshman forward Valdrin Seci headed in a crossing pass from senior midfielder Tom King in the 10th minute.  King sent a sharp pass from 20 yards out on the right side near the goal line to an unmarked Seci for the tally.

After the early score, Rutgers-Newark folded back into full defensive mode with King, Robi Rosario, Jason Chung, Bernardo Valle, Bryan Boyer and Djeka packing the zone to shield Frances.

Rutgers-Newark took just one shot in the final 35 minutes of the opening half to allow the Pioneers an 8-3 advantage in shots for the opening period.

WPU freshman midfielder Marcus Hackett leveled the score in the 66th minute when he headed in a free kick from junior midfielder Michael Encarnacion.  Encarnacion sent his restart kick from 30 yards out on the right side to Hackett who was charging to goal from inside the corner of the 18 on the left side.

Frances kept the Raiders in the fray with several spectacular saves.  WPU fired back-to-back  shots from the middle of the six in the 49th minute, but Frances batted back a one-timer by sophomore midfielder Matt Nigro before a rebound shot by senior forward Joe Maddolin was blocked.  Frances also stopped close-range blasts by Nigro in the 56th minute and Encarnacion in the just 33 seconds later.

Raider freshman forward Diego Moraes hammer a shot from 10 yards out in the 64th minute that Collins stopped to keep the Pioneers even.

In the first overtime, Frances made a diving save of 20-yard shot by Encarnacion 93rd minute and watched a 15-yarder by Encarnacion sail high with two minutes left as the Raiders survived three shots on goal while not taking a shot of their own to force a second extra period.  Wagner forced Collins to make a save in the 103rd minute of play on the only shot of the final 10-minute period.

The teams had battled to a pair of overtime decisions in Newark this season.  The Raiders scored in the first minute and held on for a 1-1 double-overtime tie in the NJAC regular-season meeting on Alumni Field on October 22 before the Pioneers rallied for a 2-1 overtime win in Newark on October 31 in the opening round of the conference championship tournament.

The NJAC teams had advanced to the title match when the Raiders upended top-seeded host Drew (15-4-1), 1-0, and WPU rallied from two goals down for a 2-1 overtime victory over Richard Stockton (12-7-4) in Madison on Saturday.

It was the first post-season championship in program history for Rutgers-Newark.