Box Score

MONTCLAIR, N.J. (Nov. 7, 2015) – Shortly before 9 p.m. on a Saturday night here in early November, the Rutgers University-Camden men's soccer team added an instant classic to its program history and a NCAA Tournament berth to its resume.
 
Freshman goalie James Brett (Palmyra, NJ/Palmyra) made a diving save to his right to stop the seventh and final Montclair State penalty kick, giving the Scarlet Raptors a 5-4 edge in the shootout after the two teams played to a 0-0 double-overtime tie in the New Jersey Athletic Conference championship game.
 
While the game goes down as a tie in the record books, it also gets recorded as Rutgers-Camden's fourth NJAC title in five years, earning the Scarlet Raptors the conference's automatic qualifier to the NCAA tournament. The Raptors will learn their opponent and destination in the selection show Monday at 1:30 p.m.

 NJAC Men's Soccer bracket
 
Facing a high-powered team that was the tournament's top seed and the defending NJAC champions, Rutgers-Camden became only the second team to shut out Montclair State all season long (Kean beat the Red Hawks 3-0 on Oct. 14) and the only team to take the Red Hawks through double overtime. Montclair State entered the game with an 18-2 record and was ranked No. 3 in the NSCAA Top 25 and No. 7 in the D3soccer.com Top 25.
 
Despite being out-shot, 28-17, through two overtimes, the Scarlet Raptors forced the penalty kick shootout, aided by a career-high 14 saves from Brett. The freshman keeper, who passed his previous high of 13 saves set against Christopher Newport University Sept. 13, was only getting warmed up. After the Raptors' Connor Hurff (Sewell, NJ/St. Augustine Prep) made the shootout's first penalty kick, Brett dove to his left to save the first Montclair State shot. The teams were both successful on their next two shots, with Grant Taylor (Mendham, NJ/West Morris-Mendham) and Vincenzo Masitti (New Egypt, NJ/New Egypt) making both shots for the Raptors.
 
On the fourth Raptor try, Red Hawks freshman goalie Mike Saalfrank (Ramsey, NJ/Ramsey) made a save and Montclair State tied the score by making its next penalty kick, Moments later, the Raptors hit the post on their fifth shot, but Montclair State also missed its shot, which could have clinched the title. That sent the PK's into a sudden death round and both teams made their first shot, with Riquan King (Winslow, NJ/Winslow Township) scoring for the Raptors.
 
On Rutgers-Camden's next penalty kick, Feli Csombok (South River, NJ/South River) buried his shot to Saalfrank's left, forcing MSU's Kevin Simek (Brick, NJ/Brick) to try to extend the shootout with his attempt. Brett dove to his right to block Simek's shot, giving Rutgers-Camden its fourth NJAC title in five years. The Scarlet Raptors, the first team to ever reach five straight NJAC title games since the playoff system started in 1999, won the title in 2011, 2012 and 2013 before losing it last year to Montclair State and getting it back again.
 
Rutgers-Camden extends its unbeaten streak to five games (4-0-1) and its record to 13-7-2, while Montclair State stands at 18-2-1. The Red Hawks lead the all-time series, 21-11-6.
 
Montclair State held a 7-5 edge in shots during the first 45 minutes, while Rutgers-Camden had the only corner kick. With four seconds left in the first half, however, Grant Taylor nearly gave Rutgers-Camden the lead when he hit the post with a shot.
 
MSU held a 16-6 shots advantage in the second half, but the Raptors held a 6-5 edge in overtime. The Red Hawks had a 4-3 edge in corner kicks for the game and Saalfrank notched eight saves to Brett's 14.