NEWARK, NJ – Rutgers-Newark rode a first-half hat trick by junior forward Raphael Araujo and a gritty defensive effort in the second period to stave off William Paterson, 3-2, on Senior Day on Alumni Field.

The Scarlet Raiders (14-4-1, NJAC 5-2-1) and Pioneers (7-7-2, NJAC 2-5-1) netted all of their points in the opening 40 minutes before the New Jersey Athletic Conference foes deadlocked behind solid defenses and some outstanding goaltending.

Rutgers-Newark sophomore goaltender Matt Broomall knuckled down after allowing the Pioneer goals just 71 seconds apart as the visitors pulled even at 2-2 in the 37th minute.

Senior midfielder Brian Barrera assisted on Araujo's first two goals. He sent a crossing pass from the right side into the right side of the box where Araujo hammered in the ice breaker into the right side 12:46 into the fray. In the 20th minute, Barrera sent a long through pass from beyond midfield to Araujo who sprinted past a Pioneer defender on the left side. The defender fell while trying to gain position, Araujo charged ahead and pushed a shot past diving WPU freshman goalkeeper Mike Diacheysn to make it 2-0.

But the Pioneers answered by picking up the attack. Broomall had to stop a header by junior midfielder Omar Jallow and good chances by senior midfielder Matt Nigro and sophomore midfielder Sean Neal before the WPU finally broke through in the 36th minute.

Sophomore midfielder Jose Arevalo rifled a hard shot off of Broomall in front of the left side of the net from point blank range which was put back over the fallen goalkeeper by junior defender Marcus Hackett to make it 2-1.

Just over a minute later, Nigro one timed a cross from the left side by Hackett from the middle of the 18 inside the left post to level the match.

Araujo the tallied the game winner in the 40th minute when he took a lead cross inside the right side of the 18 from freshman midfielder Anthony DeRisi and ripped a shot to the opposite side of the goal. It was Araujo's 24th goal of the season, extending his R-N record season total and giving him his third 3-goal game of the season. It was the second time that he provided all of the Raiders' points in a 3-2 victory. His golden goal lifted Rutgers-Newark to a 3-2 win over Merchant Marine on September 4.

DeRisi's assist extended his streak of consecutive matches with at least one assist to 10 and upped his R-N season record total to 14 assists in 17 matches.

In the second half, each team took just four shots with Broomall making three of his eight saves and Diacheysn stopping two shots to finish with four saves.

For the match, William Paterson managed a 13-11 edge in shots and led in corner kicks, 5-4.

Several acrobatic saves by Broomall proved to be the difference in the tight struggle.

Rutgers-Newark finishes its regular season with a key visit to Richard Stockton on Wednesday. Both teams are already assured of a berth in the upcoming NJAC Championship Tournament, but teams are still jockeying for first round byes and home field advantage entering the final play date of the regular season.