NEWARK, NJ – Rutgers-Newark exploded for five second-half goals to race past St. Joseph's LI, 6-0, in a non-conference match on Alumni Field.

BOX SCORE & PLAY-BY-PLAY

Freshman forward Leonardo Liberato turned in a second-half hat trick to spark the attack after the Scarlet Raiders (4-2-0) led just 1-0 at the half despite a 17-1 advantage in shots.

Senior midfielder Gabriel Avans and junior midfielder Rafael Donado had a goal and an assist each while sophomore forward Edgar Abreu collected three assists on the evening.

Freshman goalkeeper Matt Broomall needed to stop just two shots in the final 15 minutes to post his third shutout of the season as the Raiders out-shot the Golden Eagles (2-4-0), 38-7, while controlling corner kicks, 8-2.

Avans netted the lone goal of the opening period just 6:24 into the match putting away a cross from near the right end line by senior midfielder Nick Kyprianou.

The Raiders posted a season-high in goals, giving the team 14 goals in its last three matches after suffering back-to-back shutout losses, to run their winning streak to three.

Crisp, accurate passing set up all but the final goal when Donado slammed in a shot from the 18 in traffic for the only unassisted tally of the night.  Junior defender Steven Fawzy netted the other Rutgers-Newark goal.

St. Joseph's senior goalkeeper Robert Mancuso stopped seven shots while yielding five goals in the opening 68 minutes before turning things over to freshman Niko Petratos who had one save while yielding Donado's goal.

Rutgers-Newark enters New Jersey Athletic Conference play on Saturday, traveling to Rutgers-Camden for a 7 p.m. contest to start a string of five straight league matches.