CAMDEN, N.J. (September 16, 2017) – The Rutgers University-Newark women's soccer team continued its sparkling play with a 2-0 shutout at Rutgers University-Camden in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) opener for both sides.
The win is the fifth in a row for Rutgers-Newark who improves to 6-1-0 overall and 1-0-0 in NJAC play. Rutgers-Camden drops to 3-3-0 overall and 0-1-0 in the league.
Rutgers-Newark embarked on a challenging five-game road trip on September 6 and proceeded to put together five-straight wins, pitching three shutouts, earning two overtime triumphs and outscoring the opposition 14-2.
"It's a long ride to Camden but we showed up today ready to get the job done, and ready to bring home our first 'W' in the NJAC," Head Coach
Ariana Ruela said after the game. "From our keeper, to our back line, to the midfield and forwards, everyone took care of their responsibilities to come out with a win."
The Scarlet Raiders dominated Saturday's conference opener from start-to-finish, ending the match with large advantages across the stat sheet. Rutgers-Newark completed things with a 17-5 margin in shots, an 8-3 lead in shots on goal and a 9-3 advantage in corners, controlling field position and possession throughout much of the game's 90 minutes.
R-N's tallies came at 15:49 from junior
Juliana Ceballos and at 64:40 from sophomore
Samantha Richter. It was Ceballos' fifth goal of the season, and she was also credited with the assist on Richter's first of the year.
Senior goalkeeper
Diana Carvalho pocketed her fifth triumph of the season and her first complete-match individual shutout, making three saves on five shots faced.
Defense! Defense! Defense! Rutgers-Newark has not allowed a single goal against in 254:36 of match time that spans the last two full games and 74:36 of its 2-1 overtime win against Baldwin Wallace.
Despite the long trip down to South Jersey, Rutgers-Newark came out of the gate strong, pressing early. The Scarlet Raiders took the first three shots and generated the first two corners of the contest, eventually breaking through at 15:49 when Ceballos blasted a shot from the right side into the upper-left of the goal. Her five goals are tied for the team lead with senior
Haley Savva.
Rutgers-Camden did not take its first shot of the game until the 17th minute, and did not put a shot on target until the 23rd minute.
Rutgers-Newark kept up the pressure throughout the rest of the opening period, but the two teams would head into the intermission with the score holding at 1-0 in favor of the guests.
Much like the first half, the Scarlet Raiders came out firing, nearly taking a 2-0 lead when senior
Sabrina Solorzano hit the crossbar with a shot at 52:03. Rutgers-Newark continued to attack the Scarlet Raptor defense, eventually taking a 2-0 lead when Ceballos' through-ball to Richter resulted in a breakaway tally for the sophomore.
After the second goal, it remained all business for Rutgers-Newark as the defense allowed just one off-target shot and two corners over the game's final 25-plus minutes.
Rutgers-Newark returns to the Brick City for a tough non-conference match against Salisbury University Tuesday evening at 5 p.m. The first 50 students to make it to Alumni Field will get limited edition Rutgers-Newark fidget spinners, and fans will also have a chance to get a limited supply of FREE Soccer Fest t-shirts and 2017-18 calendars.
Want more women's soccer? Follow @runwsoc on Instagram for an inside look at the Scarlet Raiders all year long!
