Box Score

CAMDEN, N.J. (Sept. 13, 2017) – Both the Rutgers University-Camden and Cabrini University soccer teams entered Wednesday night's non-conference game here as two traditionally-strong programs that were struggling in the early season.
 
It was the Scarlet Raptors that found a cure as senior midfielder Clayton Taylor (Mendham, NJ/West Morris-Mendham) scored two goals to power a 5-1 victory over the Cavaliers.
 
The victory snapped a three-game winless streak (0-2-1) for the Scarlet Raptors, lifting Rutgers-Camden to 2-3-1. Cabrini falls to 0-4-1.
 
While the two teams played one-goal games in each of the past three seasons, including overtime contests won by the Raptors in 2015 and 2016, Wednesday's game was totally different. Rutgers-Camden dominated throughout the night, beginning with a strong, non-stop hustling effort by a starting 11 that featured three players making their first Rutgers-Camden start and two others with only two career Raptor starts.
 
One player making his first collegiate start was freshman goalie Kieran Burns (Haddon Township, NJ/Haddon Township), who made four saves and was the beneficiary of a strong team effort to earn his first Raptor win.
 
After applying continuous pressure, the Scarlet Raptors finally broke the scoring ice with 3:07 remaining in the first half. Freshman forward Joni Gjyleri (Egg Harbor Township, NJ/Egg Harbor Township) scored off a scramble near the goal mouth, assisted by senior midfielder Sean Welch (Medford, NJ/Shawnee).
 
Leading only 1-0 at half, the Scarlet Raptors came out strong after the break. Taylor notched his first goal only 37 seconds into the second half on a high shot from just outside the top of the box. Less than six minutes later, senior back Aaron Muse (Lumberton, NJ/Rancocas Valley) scored on a shot to the right side of the net from the top of the box. He was assisted by a feed from freshman forward Kelvin Siem (Galloway, NJ/Absegami), who played an outstanding game and showed off his blazing speed while making his first collegiate start.
 
Taylor scored again at 56:28 after taking a through ball by sophomore midfielder Patrick Grudnik (South Brunswick, NJ/South Brunswick), which split the Cabrini defense.
 
The Cavaliers got one goal back in the 60th minute on a shot by junior midfielder Jared Irwin (Wildwood, NJ/Wildwood), but the Scarlet Raptors closed out the scoring only 1:02 later when freshman forward Skyler Diggs (Delran, NJ/Delran) tallied his third goal of the season. He was assisted by junior back Fatai King (Lumberton, NJ/Rancocas Valley).
 
The Scarlet Raptors finished with a 10-7 edge in shots and an 8-6 advantage in corner kicks, two statistics that didn't explain Rutgers-Camden's control of the play.
 
Both teams return to action Saturday. Cabrini plays a 2 p.m. game at Alvernia University. Rutgers-Camden opens its New Jersey Athletic Conference schedule at Rutgers-Newark, which is ranked No. 6 in this week's D3soccer.com Top 25 poll and No. 17 in the latest United Soccer Coaches NCAA Div. III poll.