WAYNE, N.J. ­(October 26, 2016) – The nationally-ranked No. 7 Rutgers University-Newark men's soccer team locked up the No. 1 seed in the upcoming New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championship Tournament with a 2-0 shutout at William Paterson University Wednesday night.
 
Rutgers-Newark ends the regular season with a record of 18-2-0 overall and an 8-1-0 mark in the NJAC. The Scarlet Raiders have won 12-straight matches and will head to the postseason with 11 shutouts after the team's ninth during its 12-game winning streak. William Paterson drops to 8-8-2 overall and 3-6-0 in the conference.
 
The match was scoreless for the first 72:35 of game time, and that is when freshman Fabio De Sousa struck for the 13th time this season, taking a feed up the right seam from sophomore Stefano Muniz and depositing his shot into the left side of the goal. The marker went down as the game-winner which was his conference-leading eighth of the season, and Muniz picked up his fifth assist of the season which is good for second on the Scarlet Raiders.
 
Senior Sebastian Gostynski netted his 11th of the year 5:33 later on a penalty kick, and Rutgers-Newark was able to cruise to its first-ever NJAC regular-season crown which awards the Raiders a bye in the first round and home field throughout the tournament.
 
Each team ended the match with 13 shots. R-N held a 9-8 edge in the second half, with Paterson leading 5-4 after one. The Pioneers placed eight of their bids on target, but Scarlet Raider goalkeeper Andres Medina was up to the task, making eight saves in yet another outstanding effort in goal. The rookie Scarlet Raider has made eight denials in each of his last two matches, both shutouts, and has 22 saves and just one goal allowed in his last three outings. He now is 16-2-0 overall with seven individual clean sheets.
 
Rutgers-Newark held a 3-1 margin in corners.
 
The guests started the match quickly, getting shots from sophomore Brandon Goldy, junior Chigozie Atubi and senior Mark Pazmino along with a corner kick within the first 11 minutes, but Paterson withstood the early pressure and held the Raiders at bay for most of the remainder of the period.
 
The two teams traded shots early in the second, but from 65:30 until 87:28, Rutgers-Newark held the Pioneers without a single shot, while generating six attempts and two goals of its own.
 
The Scarlet Raiders will have a bye in the first round of the NJAC Tournament, and will host a semifinal Tuesday night in Newark at 7:30 p.m. against the No. 3 or No. 6 seed in the tournament. The potential opponents will be announced late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.
 
Fans should visit www.rutgersnewarkathletics.com all postseason for the latest on Rutgers-Newark men's soccer.
 
Fast Fact: After starting the near 6-2-0 in all road matches, Rutgers-Newark finished the year with 12-straight wins. The Scarlet Raiders went 11-2-0 in matches away from Alumni Field, and were a flawless 7-0-0 in matches on its home turf.
 
Fast Fact: In NJAC play, the Scarlet Raiders allowed three goals in their lone conference loss of the season at Rutgers-Camden, and then allowed just two total goals-against in their final eight league matchups.