CAMDEN, N.J. (Sept. 21, 2019) – For the past decade, the two heavyweight men's soccer programs in the New Jersey Athletic Conference have been Montclair State University and Rutgers University-Camden, which is what made both teams' NJAC season opener so intriguing here Saturday.  
 
Both teams entered the contest with 6-2 records and each had won four of the last 10 conference titles. Montclair State, ranked No. 19 in the latest D3soccer.com Top 25 poll, owned three of the past five NJAC crowns, including last season.
 
With the chance to get an early-season leg up on an outstanding foe, the matchup promised intense, high-quality soccer and the two teams didn't disappoint. On a hot day at Rutgers-Camden Community Park, it was the Scarlet Raptors who notched a goal in each half and went on to blank the Red Hawks, 2-0.
 
The victory lifts Rutgers-Camden to 7-2 overall and 1-0 in the NJAC. Montclair State falls to 6-3 overall and 0-1 in the conference, snapping a three-game winning streak.
 
The Raptors' victory snapped a 7-0-1 run by the Red Hawks in the series between the two rivals, with Rutgers-Camden's tie in that stretch coming in the 2015 NJAC championship game. The Raptors ended up winning the conference crown in a penalty kick shootout, but the game officially was recorded as a tie in the NCAA records. Prior to Saturday, the last Rutgers-Camden win against Montclair State came on Nov. 24, 2013, by a 2-1 score in the NCAA tournament, advancing the Scarlet Raptors to the Final Four.
 
The Scarlet Raptors struck early on Saturday when senior midfielder Chris Taraska picked off a clearing kick by Montclair State goalie Michael Mejia and sent a through ball to junior forward Skyler Diggs. Diggs beat Mejia to the pass and finished off his team-leading seventh goal of the season. The tally turned out to be his fourth game-winning goal this season and the ninth of his career, tying him for fourth place on the all-time program list of game winners. It also was his 23rd career goal (ninth) and gave him his 51st career point (13th).
 
Montclair State nearly tied the game in the 15th minute, but an offside call waved off the tying goal.
 
Rutgers-Camden held a 7-5 advantage in shots in the opening half and both teams had four corner kicks. Montclair State held the statistical lead in the second half while pressing for the tying goal, out-shooting Rutgers-Camden, 5-1, and leading in corner kicks, 5-2. It was the Scarlet Raptors' one shot, however, that clinched the game. Freshman midfielder Enrique Sanchez slipped a pass to junior midfielder Luis Rivadeneira on the right side and Rivadeneira broke into the box and fired a high shot across the net into the upper left side. It was his second goal of the year and the assist was the first collegiate point for Sanchez.
 
Junior Kieran Burns collected four saves in the Raptor goal to raise his season record to 3-0. Mejia had two saves in the Red Hawks' net.
 
Rutgers-Camden faces another tough foe in a non-conference home game at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Haverford College, which was ranked No. 20 in the pre-season D3soccer.com poll and received votes in that poll and the United Soccer Coaches poll last week, will face the Scarlet Raptors.