MONTCLAIR, NJ – Rutgers-Newark battled until the final minutes before Montclair State notched a late goal to come away with a 2-1 New Jersey Athletic Conference win in the MSU Soccer Park.

BOX SCORE & PLAY-BY-PLAY

Junior goalkeeper Jonathan Frances posted five saves to help offset a 23-7 deficit in shots by the Raiders.  Frances notched four saves in the second half while Rogic made no saves on the afternoon.

Sophomore midfielder Rafael Donado headed in a free kick from junior midfielder Nick Kyprianou in the 12th minute to give the Raiders the early lead.  MSU senior midfielder Kevin Zalewski put away a loose ball in front of the Rutgers-Newark goal to level the score at the end of the 30th minute.

The Red Hawks outshot the Raiders, 9-3, in the opening period and held a 3-1 edge in corner kicks, but Frances made just one save while MSU goalkeeper Anthony Rogic was not challenged outside of the one Raider goal.

The Red Hawks continued to build on their shot advantage in the second half with sophomore midfielder Dan Mendoza's goal in the 87th minute spelling the difference.  Zalewski cross the ball from outside of the box on the right side to Pablo Zegerra who heeled the ball to Mendoza who put the shot away from six yards out for his eighth goal of the year.

The Raiders (6-4-0, NJAC 1-2-0) suffered their second loss in NJAC play while the Red Hawks (7-1-2, NJAC 3-0-1) posted their third straight league victory.

Rutgers-Newark hosts The College of New Jersey in an NJAC match at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday on Alumni Field.