NEWARK, NJ | The Rutgers University-Newark men's soccer team caged the Lions of Penn State-Behrend in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Pod 1 Championship game this afternoon, 4-2, at Frederick Douglass Field. They will now await the winner of the Muhlenberg vs Rutgers-Camden game to see who they will host next week for the ECAC Championship game.

The Scarlet Raiders and Lions used the first 20 minutes of the game to feel out the style of play, and during that period, the Lions nearly went ahead 1-0. A corner kick found and open player in the box who bounced it off of the left post. Rutgers-Newark responded by scoring in the 23rd minute. Franco Catania dribbled his way into the left side of the box and slipped a pass to Miguel Sencion who tapped it into an open net to give the Scarlet Raiders a 1-0 lead.

Rutgers-Newark doubled their lead when Joe Alba crossed a pass from the left side and found Juwan Ash. Ash redirected the pass into the lower left corner which put the Scarlet Raiders up 2-0. Just five minutes later, Penn State-Behrend cut the lead down to one when Sean Abraham hit a rocket of a shot into the top right corner from 35-yards out. 

In the second half, the Lions evened the score at two when Blake Cooper hit a low cross to Tyler Vandemerwe who tapped it into the open net. With 19:03 remaining in the game, the Scarlet were awarded a penalty kick after the Lions were called for a hand ball in their own box. Catania stepped up to the spot and hit it down the middle to give Rutgers-Newark a 3-2 lead. Penn St-Behrend almost leveled it a three in the 16th minute, however, the breakaway attempt went wide right. 

With under two minutes to go, Penn St-Behrend hit the post which was then cleared away by Marlon Rodriguez. The Lions wouldn't go away as they continued to put pressure on the Scarlet Raiders until Sencion broke free along the left side and sent in a low cross to Anthony Oliveira who walked in the goal to give his team the 4-2 win.