Box Score

CAMDEN, N.J. – The top-seeded Rutgers University-Camden men's soccer team scored a pair of first-half goals and went on to defeat No. 8 seed The Sage Colleges, 2-1, here Wednesday night in the quarterfinals of the ECAC Division III Men's Metro/Upstate Soccer Championships.
 
The Scarlet Raptors, making their seventh ECAC tournament appearance in program history, improve to 14-8-1 and advance to Saturday's semifinals, where they will host No. 4 seed New York University at 12 p.m.  NYU outlasted William Paterson University with a 4-3 penalty kick margin after the teams had played to a 0-0 tie in double overtime.
 
The second semifinal contest will match No. 2 seed Drew University against No. 3 Richard Stockton College at 2:30 p.m., also at Rutgers-Camden. Drew defeated Alfred University, 3-1, while Stockton edged Centenary College, 6-5, in overtime in Wednesday's other quarterfinal games.
 
Sunday's championship game also will be held at Rutgers-Camden, beginning at 12 p.m.
 
The Sage Gators close their season with a 9-8-1 record.
 
The Scarlet Raptors built their early 2-0 lead on a goal by junior forward Mike Ryan (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) and a penalty kick by junior midfielder/forward Giuseppe DeLuca (Sicklerville, NJ/Timber Creek), following a handball in the box. Both teams had second-half goals disallowed by offside calls before the Gators broke the shutout with 1:40 remaining on a tally by freshman midfielder Heriberto Gomez (Valatie, NY/Ichabod Crane).
 
Ryan's goal, coming at 14:49, gave the Scarlet Raptors the lead for good. The program's all-time leading scorer, he notched his 15th goal of the season off a loose ball in the box that wasn't cleared. The goal extended his own program career records to 54 goals and 121 points.
 
With 6:59 remaining in the first half, senior midfielder/forward Ryan Kelly (West Deptford, NJ/West Deptford) headed a ball into the box that bounced up off the arm of a Sage defender, giving the Raptors a penalty kick. DeLuca buried the shot for his second goal of the season and what proved to be his first game-winning goal.
 
Rutgers-Camden held a 7-5 edge in shots in the opening half and a 13-10 advantage for the game. Sage had a 2-1 lead in corner kicks in the opening 45 minutes before Rutgers-Camden held a 4-1 margin in the second half for a 5-3 advantage in the game.
 
With the score remaining at 2-0 in the second half, both teams had opportunities to add goals. Rutgers-Camden had an goal disallowed by offsides after senior midfielder Joe Auleta (Hammonton, NJ/Hammonton) apparently had scored on a free kick. Later in the half, Sage had an apparent goal by freshman midfielder Kevin Saar (Binghamton, NY/Windsor Central) disallowed for the same reason.
 
The Scarlet Raptors almost padded their lead at 66:02 when a shot by freshman midfielder Brad Maine (Cherry Hill, NJ/Camden Catholic) ripped off the crossbar. The Gators, meanwhile, nearly cut the margin to 2-1 with 16:19 remaining when a shot by junior midfielder Peter Fabrykiwicz (Delancey, NY/Andes) went off the right post.
 
Sage cut the gap to 2-1 with 1:40 remaining when Gomez scored his second goal of the season from the top of the box. He took a cross from senior midfielder Gustavo Trinidad (Mamaroneck, NY/Mamaroneck) and finished the play with a shot inside the left post. The assist was the 10th of the season for Trinidad and padded his program-record totals at Sage to 32 assists and 82 points.
 
Freshman goalie Sean Matias (Vineland, NJ/Millville) made one save for the Scarlet Raptors, while junior goalie T.J. Zehner (Beacon, NY/Beacon) had three for the Gators.