Box Score

CAMDEN, N.J. (Oct. 24, 2015) – Saturday's Senior Day women's soccer game at Rutgers-Camden Community Park was a tale of two halves between New Jersey Athletic Conference sister schools Rutgers University-Camden and Rutgers University-Newark.

Senior Day photo gallery
 
In the end, it was the strong second half by the Scarlet Raptors that enabled Rutgers-Camden to rally for a 2-1 victory and keep its hopes alive for a berth in the upcoming six-team NJAC playoffs.
 

The Scarlet Raptors improved to 5-8-1 overall and 2-5-1 with their second consecutive conference win this week. They also beat New Jersey City University, 5-0, Tuesday. Rutgers-Newark, meanwhile, falls to 12-6-1 overall and 3-4-1 in the NJAC.

 
At halftime, Rutgers-Camden honored six seniors in the final weekend game of their careers, recognizing Kelly Barbone (Blackwood, NJ/Highland Regional), Lauren Celona (Hammonton, NJ/Hammonton), Tori Gerstenacker (Howell, NJ/Howell), Lacey Stackhouse (Burlington, NJ/Burlington Township), Kelsey Tierney (Galloway, NJ/Absegami) and Casandra Torres (Mt. Holly, Doane Academy). The six seniors will play their final home game Monday night with a 7 p.m. non-conference contest against The College of Staten Island, and will close their careers with a 7 p.m. NJAC game at Stockton University Wednesday.
 
Rutgers-Camden leads the all-time series, 11-2-3, and has gone 4-1-2 in the last seven games against Rutgers-Newark. The lone loss in that span came last season in Newark, and throughout the first half it appeared the Scarlet Raiders were on their way to a second consecutive series win. Newark outshot Camden, 15-4, in the first 45 minutes, hit the crossbar twice and hit the post once. The only shot that found the net, however, came at 18:31 when freshman Juliana Ceballos (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth) picked up a loose ball toward the left side beyond the top of the box and fired a high shot inside the left post. It was her fifth goal of the season.
 
Late in the half, Ceballos also launched one of the Scarlet Raiders' shots off the crossbar.
 
The second half proved to be a different story as the Scarlet Raptors pressure the visitors and outshot them, 9-8, with several good scoring opportunities. The tying goal came only 5:12 into the contest when junior Catherine Fiore (Collingswood, NJ/Paul VI) rocketed a shot off the right post and the rebound fell right to Barbone, who walked in the tying goal from the doorstep. For Barbone, who hadn't played since Sept. 19 due to an injury, her fourth goal of the season was a fitting Senior Day comeback.
 

The Scarlet Raptors had several opportunities to break the deadlock, including a penalty kick by Gerstenacker that was saved by Newark sophomore goalie Diana Carvalho (Newark, NJ/East Side) and a shot by sophomore Amber Cobb (Mullica Township, NJ/Cedar Creek) that barely missed over the crossbar. Shortly after that, the Scarlet Raiders' Sara Corson (Metuchen, NJ/Metuchen) hit the crossbar for the second time in the game.
 
With 6:14 remaining in the game, however, the Scarlet Raptors finally hit paydirt when Fiore sent a cross from the right side to the far left post, where Cobb finished her second goal of the season. It was her first game-winning goal.
 
Newark finished with a 23-13 advantage in shots, while Camden held a 4-3 edge in corner kicks. Raptor sophomore goalie Katie Gurba (Westampton, NJ/Holy Cross) collected four saves for the win, while Newark's Carvalho had seven saves.
 
Rutgers-Camden hosts the College of Staten Island in a 7 p.m. non-conference game Monday. Newark closes its regular season hosting NJAC power Montclair State University at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.