Box Score

LANCASTER, Penn. (Oct. 19, 2017) – Freshman forward Skyler Diggs (Delran, NJ/Delran) notched a hat trick and added one assist to power the Rutgers University-Camden men's soccer team over Lancaster Bible College, 7-1, in a non-conference game here Thursday afternoon.
 
The Scarlet Raptors, who improved to 8-7-3, also received two assists apiece from sophomore midfielders Chris Taraska (Woodbridge, NJ/Saint Joseph-Metuchen) and Patrick Grudnik (South Brunswick, NJ/South Brunswick).
 
Junior midfielder Vincenzo Masitti (New Egypt, NJ/New Egypt) and the freshman trio of Joni Gjyleri (Egg Harbor Township, NJ/Egg Harbor Township), Gregg Williams (Williamstown, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) and Connor D'Ilio (Burlington, NJ/Burlington Township) also added goals for the Scarlet Raptors. The seven goals were the most by the Raptors since a 7-1 win over Misericordia University on Sept. 23, 2015.
 
Despite Rutgers-Camden's output, it was actually the Chargers (6-8-2) who scored the first goal of the game. At 6:01, Jared Jordan (Lancaster, PA/Lititz Christian) hit a header off the crossbar and Rama Mugisha (Lititz, PA/Lititz Christian) finished off the rebound for his seventh goal of the season.
 
The Lancaster Bible lead didn't last long. Taraska sent a long pass ahead for Gjyleri, who finished off his fourth goal of the season at 15:34, hitting a shot into the left side of the goal.
 
Masitti gave the Scarlet Raptors the lead for good at 19:16, assisted by Taraska. His fourth goal of the season, into the left corner of the net, also was his second game-winning tally.
 
By halftime, the Scarlet Raptors had added three more goals. At 31:01, Diggs scored off a loose ball inside the box to make it a 3-1 game. Only 2:32 later, Diggs struck again, tucking a shot inside the far left post off a pass from Grudnik.
 
With 2:54 remaining in the half, Grudnik assisted on Williams' first collegiate goal. Grudnik's free kick into the box was chipped in by Williams, who beat Lancaster Bible goalie Vann Sutphin (Prospect Park, PA/Delaware County Christian) to the ball. Sutphin, was the second of three Charger goalies, who combined to make seven saves as Rutgers-Camden held a 27-11 advantage in shots.
 
Diggs, pictured above, completed his hat trick only 3:48 into the second half, chipping the ball over Sutphin after weaving through the Chargers' defense. It was the first hat trick by a Scarlet Raptor since Diggs' current teammate, senior Aaron Muse (Lumberton, NJ/Rancocas Valley) had three goals against Farmingdale State on Sept. 10, 2016, and gave Diggs a team-leading seven goals.
 
The Raptors completed their scoring, and Diggs finished his big day, only 1:18 later as his cross was finished by D'Ilio, who finished off his first collegiate goal.
 
The Raptors nearly added two more goals in the next 10 minutes, but a header by Gjyleri was blocked and a header by Diggs hit off the crossbar.
 
Junior goalie James Brett (Palmyra, NJ/Palmyra) played the first half in goal for the Scarlet Raptors, facing seven shots, making two saves and allowing one goal. Senior keeper Anthony Cutillo (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) faced four shots and made one save in a scoreless second half.
 
Rutgers-Camden returns to action on Saturday when it plays a key New Jersey Athletic Conference game at William Paterson University, beginning at 1 p.m. The Scarlet Raptors currently stand in eighth place in the NJAC with seven points (2-4-1), but are within three points of fourth-place Paterson (3-3-1).