NJAC Standings | Highlights
NEWARK, N.J. (October 22, 2016) – Sophomore
Stefano Muniz scored the game-winner and freshman
Andres Medina was spectacular in goal as the seventh-ranked Rutgers University-Newark men's soccer team improved to 17-2-0 overall and 7-1-0 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) with a 1-0 win over Montclair State University Saturday night.
The win locks up a first round bye in the upcoming NJAC playoffs, and R-N will now play Wednesday at William Paterson University for the No. 1 seed in the tournament.
The triumph also gives R-N a program-record-tying 17 wins this season and 11-straight victories overall dating back to September 19.
Montclair drops to 12-5-1 overall and 3-4-1 in the NJAC with the loss.
After a tough first half, Rutgers-Newark came out on fire in the second and struck early to take a 1-0 lead. With the Scarlet Raiders moving in towards the Red Hawk goal, a pass was deflected to Muniz who touched several times before burying his shot from 25-yards out into the upper-right corner for the game-winner which was his fifth tally of the year. The goal came at 46:52 and was the first for Muniz since September 14.
Moments later, a second Muniz bid was denied by sophomore Mike Saalfrank with a beauty of a save, and R-N generated three corners shortly thereafter that the Red Hawks escaped.
MSU was able to generate a great chance after a corner with about 20 minutes remaining, but a header from freshman Collin Mulligan was cleared off the goal line by junior
Arek Szoldrowski to keep R-N up 1-0.
Medina – who was equally splendid in each 45 – made back-to-back stops on attempts from senior Lucas Terci with about 15 minutes on the clock to keep the shutout in order and his team in front.
Newark had an open goal but no angle with 10 minutes remaining, and just a few ticks later, sophomore
Breno Lustosa took a rip from the top-right of the box but his attempt just missed the upper-left 90.
Montclair St. controlled the run of play early in the action, and the guests also had the best early chance when Terci one-timed a cross hard off the crossbar. In the 15th minute, sophomore Kevin Simek broke free and was 1-on-1 with Medina, but Medina aggressively came out of the box to slide and break up the chance.
Freshman
Fabio De Sousa took a shot with 28:48 left in the first period that forced Saalfrank to make a diving stop, and the Red Hawks came back down and Medina made a spectacular diving denial on a header from Terci.
Medina was forced to make another incredible stop on a rip from Damian Bziukiewicz, re-positioning his body for the save after the attempt deflected off the leg of an R-N defender. Moments later, an attempt from senior Mike Olla looked destined for the back of the net, but again Medina was up to the task, diving to his right for the stop.
Montclair St. finished the match with a 16-10 edge in shots, and a 6-5 edge in corners. Medina finished with eight saves to pick up the win in goal as Rutgers-Newark notched its 10th shutout of the year. It was Medina's 15th win and sixth individual shutout.
Prior to the game, Rutgers-Newark honored its seniors in
Dylan Elias,
Mark Pazmino,
Sebastian Gostynski,
Elmer Flores and
Jorge Galvez.
Wow! Over the last three matches, the Scarlet Raiders have gone against teams that have come into the contests with a combined record of 32-8-3. In those three matchups, Rutgers-Newark has come out with a win in each, outscoring the opposition 7-2 in the process.
Wow Squared! Rutgers-Newark finishes its home ledger with a perfect 7-0-0 record.
Wow Cubed! During this remarkable 11-match winning streak, the Raiders have recorded an excellent eight shutouts and have never allowed more than one goal. In fact, Rutgers-Newark has allowed more than one score against just twice all year.
