CAMDEN, N.J. (Nov. 2, 2019) – Throughout the second half and both overtime periods here Saturday, the third-seeded Rutgers University-Camden men's soccer team had plenty of chances to find a goal which would have given the Scarlet Raptors a first-round win in the New Jersey Athletic Conference playoffs.
 
The team never found that goal and as a result, it was sixth-seeded Stockton University that was able to advance into the conference semifinals by virtue of a 5-4 margin during the penalty kick shootout. Although the game officially is recorded as a 0-0 tie in the NCAA records, the Ospreys will be the team playing at second-seeded Montclair State University in the NJAC semifinals Wednesday.
 
Stockton will bring a 10-5-4 record into that semifinal game. Rutgers-Camden stands at 13-5-3 as it awaits a decision whether or not it will play in next week's ECAC playoffs.
 
After Stockton out-shot Rutgers-Camden, 7-4, in the opening half, it was the Scarlet Raptors who applied constant pressure the rest of the way, holding a 16-3 advantage in shots from the second half on. Rutgers-Camden had all of the shots in overtime – three in both OT sessions – and held a 3-1 edge in corner kicks after halftime, when the Ospreys had a 4-1 lead.
 
Despite the edge in play, the Osprey defense proved even more difficult for the Scarlet Raptors to crack than it did on Wednesday night, when the teams finished the NJAC regular season on the same field. Rutgers-Camden finally posted a win in that game, 1-0, on a goal by freshman midfielder Enrique Sanchez in the second overtime.
 
The teams made nearly every one of their penalty shots, but it was a diving stop to his right by Stockton junior keeper Dino Gromitsaris on the Raptors' second PK attempt by sophomore midfielder Kaito Kitazawa that proved to be the difference. That stop came after Kitazawa was one of the most outstanding players on the field during the 110 minutes of action. Stockton junior Dino Montesinos followed by burying his shot to give the Ospreys a 2-1 PK lead.
 
Rutgers-Camden senior Zach Fox and Stockton senior Larry Abanilla both made their PK's in the first round. Raptor senior Patrick Grudnik and Osprey senior Kyle Leach converted in the third round, Rutgers-Camden sophomore Michael Funaro and Stockton junior Michael Echeverria followed by notching their penalty kicks and the Raptors' junior Skyler Diggs made his fifth-round PK to temporarily knot the shootout at 4-4. Stockton clinched the PK shootout when sophomore James McCombs hit a high shot into the center, just below the crossbar.
 
Gromitsaris finished with six saves during the 110 minutes of play – five after halftime – before adding his big stop in the PK shootout. Raptor junior keeper Kieran Burns made three saves, with two of them coming in the opening half.