Box Score

CAMDEN, N.J. (Sept. 24, 2016) – Opposing teams are quickly learning that the Rutgers University-Camden women's soccer team is for real and that the Scarlet Raptors have come a long, long way in a very short time.
 
Although Rutgers-Camden dropped a tough 1-0 decision against Montclair State University here Saturday in a New Jersey Athletic Conference match, they gave the nationally-ranked Red Hawks all they could handle.
 
Montclair State, ranked 25th in this week's D3soccer.com Top 25 poll, improves to 7-1-1 overall and 2-0 in the NJAC. Rutgers-Camden falls to 3-3-2 overall and 1-1 in the conference with its second one-goal loss to a nationally-ranked team this week. On Wednesday in Baltimore, the Raptors took No. 19 Johns Hopkins University into overtime before losing, 3-2.
 
For Rutgers-Camden, which hasn't had a winning season, a conference or an ECAC playoff berth since 2007, the whole program has been upgraded. After improving to 6-8-2 last year in the first season under Head Coach David Hodgson, this year's team not only vastly upgraded its talent level, but also made a huge upgrade in the quality of its schedule. All three of the Raptors' defeats have come against Top 25 teams, with two this week and one on opening day against No. 12 Swarthmore College.
 
Against Montclair State, a team they have never beaten (0-18-1), the Scarlet Raptors controlled many portions of the well-played contest. Montclair State finished with a 16-12 edge in shots and a 3-1 margin in corner kicks, a far cry from the Red Hawks' 19-2 shots advantage and 6-0 corner kick lead while beating the Scarlet Raptors, 5-0, last season in Montclair.
 
The Red Hawks scored the game's lone goal at 41:38 when sophomore midfielder Ashley Koester (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) slid a pass from the top center of the box over to the right side. It was finished by freshman midfielder Christine Mayorga (Bound Brook, NJ/Bound Brook), who sent a high shot toward the opposite side, over Raptor junior goalie Katie Gurba (Westampton, NJ/Holy Cross).
 
Gurba finished with four saves and also was aided by a backsave as the Scarlet Raptors cleared the ball from near the goal line. Montclair State senior keeper Alyson Burns (Mahwah, NJ/Mahwah) had seven saves, with five of them coming off the foot of Raptor senior forward Catherine Fiore (Collingswood, NJ/Paul VI).
 
The Raptors will play another Top 25 team when they travel to No. 16 The College of New Jersey for a 7:30 p.m. conference game Wednesday night.