Game Program | Game Preview | All-Conference Release

NEWARK, N.J. (November 1, 2016) – The Rutgers University-Newark men's soccer team suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Montclair State University in the semifinals of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Tournament Championship Tuesday night on Alumni Field.
 
Top-seeded Rutgers-Newark sees its remarkable 12-match winning streak come to an end, and the Scarlet Raiders will now await a possible at-large berth to the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship on Monday. The NCAA selection show is slated for 1 p.m. and can be seen at www.ncaa.com/live.
 
Third-seeded Montclair State advances to the conference title match against Rowan University Friday with the winner earning the NJAC's automatic berth to the national tournament.
 
Rutgers-Newark –ranked fourth in the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll – falls to 18-3-0 overall, while MSU improves to 15-5-1.
 
The Scarlet Raiders controlled field position and possession for most of the match, ending the action with an 18-3 margin in shots and a 2-1 edge in corners. However, MSU was able to score on two of its three shots to get the win in a game that saw four ejections, and nine total cards – all in the second half.
 
The first 15 minutes of action saw the Scarlet Raiders generate one shot on target and the Red Hawks create one corner, but the two teams went up-and-down with abandon, using the entire length and width of the pitch.
 
The game's first solid shot came from junior Chigozie Atubi with around 19 minutes left in the first half, taking a rip from just inside the top of the box that MSU goalkeeper Mike Saalfrank dove to stop.
 
Newark controlled possession and field position for a large chunk of the latter stages of the first half, with the best opportunity coming for senior Sebastian Gostynski with 11 minutes on the clock, but the veteran's attempt clanged off the far post and the match remained scoreless all the way to the break.
 
Montclair State took the lead just 2:50 into the second half and it came on the Red Hawks' first shot of the match. On the play senior Steven Zamudio received a pass in the box from senior Michael Czyrnek and Zamudio was able to record his fourth tally of the season.
 
At 62:10, Czyrnek would receive his second yellow of the match, giving Rutgers-Newark a man advantage, but the Red Hawks were able to tack on an insurance marker from senior Lucas Terci, who took a pass from Zamudio at the top of the box and tucked his shot just inside the lower-left corner for his 28th score of the year.
 
An R-N red at 67:56 made it 10v10, but the score remained the same (2-0) the rest of the way despite Newark outshooting the Red Hawks, 7-1 down the stretch.
 
Rutgers-Newark has twice earned at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament, once in 2013 and again in 2014. The team won the ECAC title in 2015 and has already won a program-record 18 matches in 2016.