NEWARK, NJ – Teams from Rutgers-Newark and Rutgers-Camden have never met in the finals of a New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship playoff – until this Saturday!
Third-seeded Newark visits nationally fourth ranked and unbeaten Camden in the RUC Community Park at 1 p.m. for the men's soccer title.
Formally designated in 1985, the NJAC is comprised of the state's 10 public colleges and universities which compete at the NCAA Division III (non-scholarship) level, and merged the male and female athletic governing bodies into a single unit. However, the schools began playing against each other as members of the New Jersey State College Athletic Conference (for men) and the New Jersey Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women in 1959.
It has taken 54 years for the Scarlet Raiders of Newark and the Scarlet Raptors of Camden to square off against each other in the championship finals in the prestigious league which includes Kean University, Montclair State University, New Jersey City University, Ramapo College, Richard Stockton College, Rowan University, The College of New Jersey and William Paterson University. NJAC has amassed 44 NCAA Division III team championships since the division was formed in 1973.
It marks the first trip to the men's soccer title game in program history for Rutgers-Newark (17-4-1) while Rutgers-Camden (18-0-2) is the two-time defending champion. Those titles in 2011 and 2012 are the first in Scarlet Raptor program history.
Rutgers-Newark has never gone to the NCAA playoffs in men's soccer.
Seventh-year head coach
Kevin East has taken the Scarlet Raider program from cellar dweller to perennial playoff contender with Rutgers-Newark earning NJAC tournament berths in four of the past five years. The Raiders had never gone to an NJAC tournament before 2009. This season's team ranks among the most explosive scoring teams in D-III behind junior forward
Raphael Araujo who has netted a school record 26 goals. The team has set new program marks for wins, points and goals in a season.
Eighth-year head coach Tim Oswald has elevated the Scarlet Raptors to new levels with three NCAA appearances (2008, 2011 and 2012) and appearances in five NJAC Championship finals matches. Rutgers-Camden lost 1-0 decisions to The College of New Jersey in 2005 and Montclair State in 2008 before breaking through for its initial league crown.
Oswald claimed the 2013 NJAC Men's Soccer Coach of the Year Award this season after East became the first Rutgers-Newark coach to earn the honor in 2012. The Raptors are built on stingy defense and an opportunistic offense. Camden has posted 10 shutouts this season and allows just .68 goals per game behind the play of senior goalkeeper Mike Randall. On the attack, sophomore forward Mike Ryan, who has tallied 19 goals, was named the NJAC Co-Offensive Player of the Year along with Araujo.
Each team posted a 4-1 win in the semifinals on Wednesday to advance to the title game. Camden, the six-team tournament's top seed, breezed past The College of New Jersey while Newark erupted for three goals in less than nine minutes late in the second half to upend second-seeded Montclair State in the MSU Soccer Park. It ended a 30-0-1 domination by the Red Hawks over the Scarlet Raiders which dated back to 1983.
On the line in the NJAC title match is the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament. Rutgers-Camden, the top seed in the South Atlantic Region based on matches played prior to Wednesday, is virtually guaranteed an at-large slot in the national playoffs. Rutgers-Newark, which was ranked sixth in the region, is a strong candidate to gain an at-large bid.
Also on the line are bragging rights for the players – many of them competitors and teammates since high school. All of the Newark players call New Jersey home while all but two on the Camden roster are from the Garden State.
