CAMDEN, N.J. (Sept. 25, 2019) – Two years ago, Darnell Brown was a New Jersey Athletic Conference First Team defender as a junior for the Rutgers-Camden men's soccer team.
 
After missing all of last season, Brown has returned to play a key role once again for the Scarlet Raptors, but here on Wednesday night, it was his offense that proved to be just as effective as his defense.
 
Brown scored his first two goals of the season, including the game winner in the first overtime, as the Scarlet Raptors defeated No. 21-ranked Haverford College, 3-2. The win comes on the heels of Saturday's 2-0 win over No. 19 Montclair State University and lifts the Scarlet Raptors to 8-2.
 
Haverford, which was coming off a 1-0 win over No. 3 Johns Hopkins University, falls to 3-2-2.
 
In a tight game between two great teams, the Raptors appeared to be headed for a 2-1 win in regulation, but with 6:57 remaining, Haverford senior forward Nick Jannelli drilled a long shot from out top of the box on the right side. It deflected off the far left post and into the net for the tying goal, setting the stage for overtime.
 
With 4:31 remaining in the opening overtime period, Brown headed home the winning goal from a flurry in the box, a shot that barely crossed over the goal line. It was his second tally of the day after opening the scoring at 32:08 when he finished off a long restart from senior Patrick Grudnik at the left post.
 
Rutgers-Camden had the edge in play throughout the first half, but Haverford tied the game in the 40th minute on an unassisted goal by freshman Andrew Peebles. He split the defense into the box and hit a low shot into the right side of the net.
 
Rutgers-Camden regained the lead in the 63rd minute on the team-leading eighth goal by junior Skyler Diggs. Sophomore Joni Gjyleri sprung Diggs around the right side, where he broke into the box and fired a shot into the far panel.
 
Brown's game-winning goal gave Rutgers-Camden the final edge in shots, 13-12, while Haverford held a 6-4 advantage in corner kicks. Raptor junior keeper Kieran Burns made six saves, while the Fords' Dylan Ioffreda had three.
 
Rutgers-Camden returns to action Saturday with a 1 p.m. New Jersey Athletic Conference game at Kean University.