KING'S POINT, N.Y. (September 7, 2016) – The Rutgers University-Newark men's soccer team improved to 3-1-0 on the young 2016 season with a convincing 5-1 win at the United States Merchant Marine Academy (0-2-1) Wednesday night.
 
Rutgers-Newark bounced back from a tough loss at Wheaton College Sunday to end the first week of the season with another road victory Wednesday, and the Scarlet Raiders also avenged a one-goal loss to Merchant Marine to open the 2015 season.
 
"I think our guys did an excellent job tonight," said Head Coach Kevin East. "Merchant Marine plays with a ton of energy on a narrow field and makes it hard for the opponent to find time or space. We handled it all very well, and adapted to the circumstances in an intelligent manner. Our guys that came in off the bench also deserve a lot of credit for really changing the game for us – it was great to see."
 
Sophomore Stefano Muniz led the Scarlet Raiders with two goals and one assist as junior Isaiah Kuris, senior Dylan Elias and junior Chigozie Atubi all scored as well.
 
After falling behind 1-0 just 2:12 into the action, Rutgers-Newark started to get its footing and pulled even when Elias took a lead pass from Muniz down the right wing and scored.
 
Kuris put in the game-winner 11:12 later, hammering home a rebound off of a corner. Sophomore Brandon Goldy and junior Alex Torres each picked up assists on the play, and the Scarlet Raiders would take that 2-1 lead into intermission.
 
Just 8:59 into the second, the lead moved to 3-1 when Atubi tallied his first of the season, streaking down the right wing and scoring after a pass from junior Carlos Castro sprung him free.
 
Muniz was responsible for the final two markers, using an assist from freshman Fabio De Sousa at 77:37 and scoring again at 83:04 with a header that came from a Torres corner.
 
Torres finished with two assists and Muniz had five points.
 
Merchant Marine held a 14-12 edge in shots and a 9-8 margin in shots on goal. The Scarlet Raiders ended with a 5-1 margin in corners – scoring twice directly off the set piece.
 
Freshman Andres Medina picked up the triumph in goal, making eight saves. He now has 17 stops in his last two matches for the Scarlet Raiders.
 
Despite trailing in shots and shots on goal, the Scarlet Raiders dominated the final 40 minutes of action, allowing just one corner and three shots (two on target).
 
Rutgers-Newark will return to action Saturday and Sunday at The College of New Jersey Adidas Soccer Classic, battling Whitworth University and Keystone College.