Game Highlights
NEWARK, N.J. (November 14, 2015) – Junior forward
Charlie O'Connell scored 2:22 into overtime to lift the Rutgers University-Newark men's soccer team to a 1-0 win over Drew University and into the title game of the 2015 Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Metro/Upstate Championship.
The Scarlet Raiders will host Manhattanville College Sunday night at Alumni Field beginning at 6 p.m. Live stats and video will be provided via links at
www.rutgersnewarkathletics.com. The Valiants advanced to the final with a win over top-seeded Stockton University.
Saturday's game-winner was the second of the season for O'Connell – both coming in overtime. His first gave the Raiders a 2-1 victory over Johns Hopkins University in the Scarlet Raider Soccer Classic in mid-September. The marker was his sixth of the season, with junior
Mark Pazmino and junior
Hubert Dul each recording assists. On the play, Pazmino played the ball into Dul who used his chest to get the ball to O'Connell. The veteran forward was able to hold off a defender before chipping his shot up and in.
Rutgers-Newark is now 15-7-1, while Drew ends its season at 12-5-3.
The Scarlet Raiders finished the match with a 17-12 edge in shots, outshooting the Rangers 8-3 in the final 47:22. Each team took nine bids in the first half.
Senior goalkeeper
Matt Broomall made five saves in the shutout for Rutgers, three in the first half and two in the second. The four-time All-NJAC pick now has eight clean sheets on the season, with the team earning its ninth overall. R-N ended with a 7-5 edge in shots on target and the same margin in corner kicks .
The first half was mostly even, with the Scarlet Raiders holding a slight edge in possession and field position, but R-N had the much better run of play in the second.
Around the fifth minute, Dul and O'Connell each forced freshman Stephan Lukianov to make saves, as the O'Connell/Dul pairing along with junior forward
Anthony DeRisi and Pazmino were responsible for a flurry of chances 15 minutes in.
After play was in the middle of the field for the first 10-plus minutes of the second stanza, the Scarlet Raiders nearly scored when an O'Connell header banged off the far post. The rebound was eventually deflected out of bounds, keeping the game scoreless.
R-N generated two corners and two solid shots in the final two minutes, but could not find the back of the net, sending the match into overtime.
O'Connell made the only bid for either side in the extra period count, beating Lukianov who made six saves in the match. The R-N junior then sprinted to join his teammates in celebration at midfield in front of the Scarlet Raider faithful.
Rutgers-Newark is making its first appearance in the ECAC Tournament since 2012 after reaching the NCAA Tournament in 2013 and 2014. R-N now has 15 or more wins in three-straight seasons.
