WAYNE, NJ – Senior midfielder Gabriel Avans scored the winning goal on a desperation shot with two seconds left as Rutgers-Newark locked up a New Jersey Athletic Conference playoff berth with a heart-stopping 3-2 win over William Paterson in the Pioneer Soccer Park.

BOX SCORE & PLAY-BY-PLAY

Avans put his eighth goal of the season over the head of Pioneer sophomore goalkeeper Santiago Mesa from near midfield to put the Scarlet Raiders (12-6-0, NJAC 5-3-0) into the NJAC Championship Tournament for the third time in the last four seasons.  The Pioneers (6-8-1, NJAC 3-4-1) are tied for sixth place in the 10-team league with Rowan.

William Paterson sent a free kick wide and took a corner kick in the final in the final 30 seconds before Raider freshman goalkeeper Matt Broomall collected a loose ball in front of the box.  With the seconds ticking down, he punted the ball into the midfield circle near Avans.  Avans spun to his right and sent a high shot off of his left foot toward the goal.  Mesa, who was slightly off line, was helpless as the ball slipped just under the cross bar from about 40 yards out.

The Pioneers forged a 16-8 edge in shots and a 12-2 advantage in corner kicks, but Raider freshman goalkeeper Matt needed just three saves to register the victory – including just one in the second half.

A flurry of three goals in less than seven minutes interrupted a defensive struggle in the first half.  Sophomore forward Edgar Abreu fired in a shot from the right side of the box at 24:55 to start the spree before WPU junior forward Hugh Riley scored in the box after a corner kick by junior midfielder Matt Nigro was redirected by junior midfielder Karl Schroeder just two minutes later.

Raider senior forward William Munoz broke the tie with his fourth goal of the season at 31:47 before the defenses once again took control.

The Pioneers out-shot the Raiders, 11-5, in the opening period and controlled corner kicks, 8-2.  But Broomall stopped on-goal shots in the box by Riley in at seven and 21 minutes as the Raiders leveraged a 4-3 advantage in shots on goal into a halftime lead.

Senior forward Naeem Boucher leveled the score at 2-2 by putting a header into the right side of the net on a cross from the middle by senior defender Michael Encarnacion eight minutes into the second half.

Rutgers-Newark is at Mount St. Mary on Monday night at 7 for a non-conference match before returning to Alumni Field on Wednesday for Senior Night in its regular-season finale against Richard Stockton.