AMHERST, Mass. (October 1, 2017) – The third-ranked Rutgers University-Newark men's soccer team suffered a 2-1 overtime loss at the hands of 21st-ranked Amherst College Sunday afternoon.
 
The loss snaps a 24-game regular-season winning streak for the Scarlet Raiders. Rutgers-Newark last lost a regular-season matchup back in September of 2016. It was the longest winning streak in the nation prior to Sunday. R-N moves to 12-1-0 overall, while Amherst improves to 4-1-1 with the win.
 
The Scarlet Raiders return to the pitch at FDU Florham Wednesday in a non-conference showdown.
 
Amherst scored first, opening a 1-0 lead at 17:01 when Fikayo Ajayi tallied thanks to an assist from Aziz Khan. The Ajayi tally marked the first time in 12-plus matches that Rutgers-Newark had to play from behind which was more than 1090 minutes of match time.

"Today's game was played between two very good teams with contrasting styles," Head Coach Kevin East said. "It was a game of two halves, Amherst using their size, strength and direct play in the first half to cause us problems, and us using our skills to our advantage in the second."
 
Sophomore forward Fabio De Sousa tied the score 1-1 in the 62nd minute, tallying for the 12th time in 2017. De Sousa – a freshman All-American – now has goals in seven-straight games overall and 8-of-9. The second-year standout leads Rutgers-Newark with 12 goals and 28 points, sitting second on Rutgers-Newark with four assists.
 
Amherst scored the game-winner in the 98th minute when Sebastian Derby found the back of the net on a pass from Jimmy McMillan.

"We were able to adapt and keep the ball on their side for much of the second half, but unfortunately the overtime became a bit of a sideshow and we lost concentration," added East. "We got away from our plan but will learn from it and look forward to many big games moving forward."
 
Amherst finished the match with a 19-14 margin in shots, but Rutgers-Newark held a 9-7 edge in shots on goal. Amherst managed a 9-6 advantage in corners, and each team was whistled for three yellow cards.

Sophomore goalkeeper Andres Medina made five saves in the loss for Rutgers-Newark. Kofi Hope-Gund made eight saves for Amherst to earn the win.
 
The Rutgers-Newark-Amherst match marked the end to a grueling stretch of the schedule for the Scarlet Raiders. R-N played matches on Monday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, and the Raiders also took the pitch three times last week which means they took to the field competitively seven times over the last 14 days.
 
R-N – which has postseason aspirations – would have to play back-to-back matches three-straight weekends should it wish for a chance to play in the 'Final Four' of the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Scarlet Raiders will return to action at FDU-Florham Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
 
Fans should follow @ScarletRaiders and @RUN_Soc on twitter for the latest all season long.