NJAC Standings

NEWARK, N.J. (October 8, 2016) – The Rutgers University-Newark men's soccer team defeated Stockton University by a score of 2-0 Saturday night at Alumni Field in a tough New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) battle.
 
Rutgers-Newark improves to 13-2-0 overall and 4-1-0 in the NJAC, while Stockton drops to 2-7-4 overall and 0-3-2 in the league. The Scarlet Raiders have now won seven-straight matches overall, and they have shutout their last five opponents. R-N has not allowed a tally against in 507-plus minutes of match time dating back to the first half of a 2-1 NJAC win over Kean University.

"I give our players a lot of credit," said Head Coach Kevin East after the triumph. "Stockton defends very well with a lot of numbers behind the ball and are difficult to break down. We told our guys to be patient and work for opportunities. They finally came late in the game and we were able to take advantage. I thought it was a very complete performance by us."
 
Despite controlling possession and field position for the balance of the contest, the Scarlet Raiders and Ospreys were tied 0-0 with 6:45 on the clock. It was at that point freshman Fabio De Sousa was taken down from behind at the top-right of the box. De Sousa took his time and lined up his free kick, sneaking his shot inside the near post at 83:43 for his team-best 10th goal of the season. It was the freshman's sixth game-winning goal, and he now has points in seven of his last nine matches.

Stockton was able to get the ball into the Scarlet Raider zone after De Sousa scored, but the Raider defense did not allow any clean looks, and the hosts even tacked on a tally with 23 seconds on the clock.
 
The insurance score came from junior Alex Torres, and on the play, the veteran chased down a long pass with the intention to use as much time as possible. Torres made a move and found himself at the end line with a defender on him before somehow creating enough space and separation to put his shot inside the near-right post for his fourth tally of the year.
 
Rutgers-Newark ended the match with a 12-8 lead in shots, a big 7-2 margin in shots on goal and a 5-3 edge in corners. Freshman goalkeeper Andres Medina made two saves to earn his fourth individual shutout of the season, and the team's eighth overall.
 
Rutgers-Newark had back-to-back strong chances 10 minutes into the match on corner kicks with shots from sophomore Timothy Farias and junior Isaiah Kuris just missing to keep the match scoreless early.
 
The two teams would settle in and a huge portion of the opening 45 minutes were played deep in the Stockton zone, but the Ospreys did just enough to keep R-N off the scoreboard. R-N ended the opening period with a 7-3 margin in shots and each squad took a pair of corner kicks.
 
The Ospreys' Anthony Colofranson had an excellent chance early in the second period, and Medina made a save diving toward the near post, and minus a thwarted breakaway attempt following a punt, the Rutgers defense was suffocating.
 
Rutgers-Newark had back-to-back long crosses just out of the reach of its intended target, and a pass from De Sousa to freshman Romario DePalmer created a great chance midway through the second, but Stockton keeper Michael Lescano made a solid aggressive play to keep the match scoreless.
 
The Scarlet Raiders continued to keep the pressure on, finally breaking through in the 84th minute to pick up the NJAC win.
 
The Scarlet Raiders return to the field Wednesday when they visit Ramapo College in an NJAC match.

SHOUT OUTS! Despite not always getting on the stat sheet, the Rutgers-Newark defense has been playing great all year. Today's stingy back line was made up of Brandon Goldy, Arek Szoldrowski, Dylan Elias and Isaiah Kuris.