Box Score

MONTCLAIR, N.J. – For the first time in four seasons, the New Jersey Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Championship trophy has found a different home than Rutgers University-Camden.
 
Nationally-ranked Montclair State University scored a pair of first-half goals, jumped back on the scoreboard only 1:32 into the second half and went on to top the three-time defending champion Scarlet Raptors, 3-1, in the NJAC title game here Friday night.
 
The loss was the Scarlet Raptors' first in a NJAC playoff game since a 1-0 defeat against Montclair State in the championship contest on Nov. 7, 2008. After missing the NJAC playoffs in both 2009 and 2010, the Scarlet Raptors went 2-0 in each of the last three seasons and 2-0 to start this year's playoffs.

Montclair State, which is ranked No. 18 nationally in the NSCAA Division III Top 25 poll and No. 17 in the D3soccer.com rankings, improved to 17-4 with its 12th win in the last 13 games. Not only did the Red Hawks return to the NJAC throne, which they owned for four straight seasons from 2006-09, they also captured the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
 
The Scarlet Raptors, meanwhile, are forced to play a waiting game to see if they can manage to gain an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. The Division III Men's Soccer Selection Show will be held Monday at 1:30 p.m. If Rutgers-Camden doesn't reach the NCAA tourney for the first time in four years, the Scarlet Raptors should be selected – and be a high seed – to play in the ECAC Championships, which begin on Wednesday.
 
NCAA Selection Show link
 
Rutgers-Camden will take a 13-8-1 record into Monday's anxious waiting game after losing for only the second time in its last nine games. The Scarlet Raptors were 5-4 this season against teams appearing in the national Top 25 or receiving votes to the Top 25. Two of those losses came against Montclair State, including a 5-2 defeat on Oct. 18.
 
The Red Hawks took the lead for good at 19:15 on the seventh goal of the season by sophomore forward Mike Olla (Bloomfield, NJ/St. Benedict's Prep). After he drove in from the left side, his shot deflected off Raptor freshman keeper Sean Matias (Vineland, NJ/Millville), and finished into an open net.
 
The Scarlet Raptors nearly tied the score at 24:48, but a shot toward the left post by junior forward Mike Ryan (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) was saved on a dive to his right by MSU sophomore goalie Michael Gonzalez (Kenilworth, NJ/Union Catholic).
 
With 6:01 remaining in the half, the Red Hawks struck again. After a failed clear, sophomore back John Starner (Manahawkin, NJ/Southern Regional) sent a pass to the middle of the box. Freshman midfielder Jake Seaman (Montclair, NJ/Montclair) finished with a grounder inside the left post for his third goal of the season.
 
The Red Hawks out-shot the Scarlet Raptors, 11-4, in the opening half, while both teams had three corner kicks. Gonzalez made three saves in the opening 45 minutes, two of them off Ryan shots, while Matias had one save.
 
Montclair quickly burst the Scarlet Raptors' comeback dreams in the second half, scoring only 1:32 after halftime on a header by junior midfielder Lucas Terci (Union, NJ/Union), the NJAC's Offensive Player of the Year. He notched his 14th goal of the season off a 40-yard free kick by senior midfielder Maxx Wurzburger (Glen Rock, NJ/Glen Rock).
 
 
Rutgers-Camden broke MSU's shutout bid at 69:19 on the first goal of the season by junior midfielder/forward Giuseppe DeLuca (Sicklerville, NJ/Timber Creek). On a give and go from the left side to the middle, he took a feed from Ryan and hit a shot into the high right side of the net. The assist gave Ryan his 119th career point at Rutgers-Camden, setting a new program record. He had been tied at 118 with Mitch Grotti, who set the mark during his senior season last year.
 
Rutgers-Camden added another record Friday when senior midfielder Joe Auleta (Hammonton, NJ/Hammonton) played in his 94th career game, breaking the tie he shared with Grotti. Auleta, who has played in every game during his Scarlet Raptor career, has started all of them except the first one. He stretched his program record to 93 straight starts in his record-setting 94th game.
 
Montclair State finished with a 19-12 advantage in shots and an 8-7 edge in corner kicks. Gonzalez made four saves for the Red Hawks, while Matias had three for the Scarlet Raptors.