NEWARK, N.J. (September 30, 2015) – The Rutgers University-Newark men's soccer team improved to 2-1-0 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference and 9-3-0 overall with a 1-0 shutout of Ramapo College Wednesday night on Alumni Field.
 
Sophomore forward Chigozie Atubi recorded his second game-winning goal of the season midway through the first half, and senior goalkeeper Matt Broomall - along with the rest of the Scarlet Raider defense -  pitched the team's third shutout.
 
Ramapo falls to 0-2-1 in the conference and 5-4-2 overall with the loss.
 
Atubi broke a scoreless tie at 24:11 thanks to a pretty pass from freshman Damjan Agaj and an excellent individual effort. In front of the Scarlet Raider bench, Agaj possessed the ball and passed to Atubi who was making a run. Atubi turned the wrong way before righting himself, finding the ball and beating a defender. He touched again before sneaking his shot inside the near post. The goal was his sixth of the season, with Agaj notching his fifth assist.
 
Ramapo opened the game with a couple of nice chances, the first of which forced Broomall to make a save and the second came on a volley that sailed just high.
 
R-N held an 8-7 edge in shots after one, and nearly opened the scoring when Agaj lofted a pass to a streaking Hubert Dul down the middle. Dul got to the ball a split second before Roadrunner goalkeeper Ryan Sprague, but could not get off a clean shot.
 
The opening moments of the second half were very fragmented with a large number fouls and a lot of stops to the run of play. An indirect free kick and a header on a corner were the best chances for the Roadrunners until a counter was broken up nicely by Raider sophomore Isaiah Kuris at the top of the box.
 
With a shade over 15 minutes to play, Rutgers-Newark had its best chance of the period when freshman Timothy Farias found himself one-on-one with the keeper. He was able to get off a good shot but Sprague guessed right to make the save.
 
Junior Charlie O'Connell was fouled jockeying for position outside the box near the sideline to create another solid opportunity, but a header from junior Dylan Elias was saved with 12:01 left. A minute later, the Scarlet Raiders had an excellent chance in front after a scrum, however one shot was saved by Sprague and another was kept out by a Roadrunner defender.
 
Rutgers-Newark ended the match with a 14-10 margin in shots, and the Roadrunners had a 4-1 edge in corner kicks. Broomall finished with three saves for the shutout, while Sprague made four.
 
R-N will look to make it back-to-back conference wins when the Raiders welcome New Jersey City University to Alumni Field on Saturday. Opening touch is slated for 11 a.m.