CAMDEN, N.J. (Feb. 24, 2021) – The pandemic-altered 2020-21 athletic schedules continue to evolve in the New Jersey Athletic Conference and as the NJAC winds down its short basketball season, it is gearing up for a month-long soccer schedule in March.
The sports of men's and women's soccer, which normally would be held in the fall semester, will begin March 10 with the NJAC playing a round-robin schedule including the limited schools that elected to participate in the season. Only seven of the 10 NJAC schools will be participating in soccer, including Rutgers University-Camden. The other six participating schools will be Kean University, Montclair State University, New Jersey City University, Ramapo College, Stockton University and William Paterson University.
The NJAC will begin its soccer conference tournaments on April 3 and conclude with championship matches on April 14.
Rutgers-Camden will face Ramapo College in its season soccer openers on March 10, with the Raptor men playing at home and the women traveling to Mahwah for a road game.
The Rutgers-Camden men posted a 13-5-3 record during their last season on the pitch in 2019. The Scarlet Raptor women, meanwhile, posted a 5-12-1 season during the 2019 fall campaign.
Both teams played to a scoreless deadlock against Stockton in the first round of the NJAC playoffs and both saw the Ospreys advance in the conference tournament via a penalty kick shootout.
The Scarlet Raptor men return three of their six players who earned All-NJAC honors in 2019, including senior forward
Skyler Diggs and junior midfielder
Kaito Kitazawa, who were both named to the conference Second Team. Diggs, who led the team with 12 goals and 25 points last year, owns 28 goals and 61 points during his three seasons, eighth and 10th on the program's career list, respectively. Kitazawa has had two stellar seasons in the Raptor midfield and senior back
Bobby Andrews earned All-NJAC Honorable Mention as a junior in 2019 after playing two seasons for Rowan College at Gloucester County.
The biggest story for the men's team could potentially come in the season opener. As Head Coach
Tim Oswald begins his 15th season, he is one win shy of 200 for his Rutgers-Camden career. Oswald brings a 199-84-38 career record into the season.
Rutgers-Camden Head Coach
Steve Weaver has led his team into the NJAC playoffs for two straight years, a feat the program hadn't accomplished since 2004 and 2005. Weaver's team includes a trio of juniors who earned All-NJAC Honorable Mention in 2019: forward
Lauren Calabria, midfielder
Lindsay Hernandez and back
Breana Winder. Calabria and Hernandez tied for the team lead with eight points apiece during their first year at Rutgers-Camden in 2019. Winder, meanwhile, has earned All-NJAC honors in both of her first two seasons as a Scarlet Raptor.
NJAC release
