Box Score

TROY, N.Y. (Oct. 5, 2016) – Nobody can claim that the Rutgers University-Camden women's soccer team is ducking top-notch competition. In fact, the Scarlet Raptors' schedule is looking like a Who's Who of the top Division III teams in the nation, and the Scarlet Raptors are closing the gap with each passing test.
 
For the fifth time this season, and the fourth time in the last five games, the Scarlet Raptors faced a nationally-ranked opponent here Wednesday afternoon and they took Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to the second overtime before dropping a 2-1 decision on a breakaway goal by freshman forward Emily Kaplan (Smithtown, NY/Hauppauge).
 
The Engineers, ranked No. 22 nationally in the latest NSCAA Top 25 poll and effectively No. 26 as the highest team receiving votes toward this week's D3soccer.com Top 25 poll, improve to 9-2. The only blemishes on RPI's record are 1-0 losses to Williams College and William Smith College, two teams ranked No. 1 nationally in the NSCAA and D3soccer.com polls, respectively.
 
Rutgers-Camden falls to 4-5-2, with all five defeats coming against Top 25 teams.
 
RPI scored only 7:29 into the game when freshman midfielder Jacqui Richard (Southwick, MA/Westminster School) notched her first career goal, assisted by junior Stephanie May (Windham, NH/Central Catholic). Richard nearly scored another goal less than two minutes later, but her shot hit the left post.
 
Rutgers-Camden sophomore midfielder Melissa Peel (Gibbstown, NJ/Gloucester County Institute of Technology) had a couple opportunities later in the half, but one of her shots was blocked and another was saved by RPI freshman keeper Joey Lyons (Harwood, MD/Southern).
 
At halftime, the Engineers held an 8-3 advantage in shots and a 2-1 margin in corner kicks. Lyons had the one first-half save, while junior goalie Katie Gurba (Westampton, NJ/Holy Cross) had three for the Scarlet Raptors.
 
Trailing, 1-0, against a team that had only allowed three goals all season – two of them against the two top-ranked teams in the country in 1-0 defeats – the Scarlet Raptors refused to fold and become the Engineers' seventh shutout victim of the season. Rutgers-Camden scored the tying goal at 68:20, when freshman forward Nicolette Stafford (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) sent a shot inside the left post for her second goal of the year. It was assisted by senior forward Catherine Fiore (Collingswood, NJ/Paul VI), who collected her team-leading fourth assist of the season. With the point, Fiore raised her career total to 51 points, one shy of tying Jasmine Philip (1999-02) for eighth place on the program's all-time list.
 
Although the Engineers held advantages of 26-12 in shots and 9-2 in corner kicks in the game, the Scarlet Raptors had three shots in the first overtime session, forcing Lyons to make two of her five saves. Gurba, meanwhile, made two of her seven saves in the first overtime before Kaplan won the game only 54 seconds into the final overtime session. She was sprung on a breakaway on a long ball from junior Bethany Hanson (Fullerton, CA/Sunny Hills) and finished off her sixth goal of the season. It was her third game-winning goal in the last four games.
 
Rutgers-Camden will take a break from its Murderer's Row schedule on Saturday when the Scarlet Raptors host New Jersey City University in a 1 p.m. New Jersey Athletic Conference game. The contest also will serve as Senior Day to honor the Raptors' five departing players: Sara Bockius (Medford, NJ/Shawnee), Fiore, Stephanie Rodriguez (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) and Kylee Schairer (Collingswood, NJ/Collingswood) are all in their senior year of eligibility, while Aubrey Andrews (Haddon Heights, NJ/Haddon Heights) has junior eligibility but is a senior academically.