CAMDEN, N.J. (March 13, 2021) – The William Paterson University men's soccer team scored the first three goals of the game and hung on to defeat Rutgers University-Camden, 3-2, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game here Saturday afternoon.
The contest was the season opener for the Pioneers (1-0 overall/1-0 NJAC), while the Scarlet Raptors dropped to 0-1-1 overall and in the conference.
Senior forward/midfielder Chris Fuentes picked up one goal and one assist to pace William Paterson, including an assist on the lone first-half goal, which was scored by senior forward Jacob Von Giebel. Fuentes took a corner kick 13:44 into the game and the ball went across the goal mouth to the far right post, where it was finished by Von Giebel.
Midway through the second half, Fuentes took a shot from outside the left side of the box that found the net, making it a 2-0 game at 68:20. The Pioneers added a third goal, which proved to be the deciding tally, at 81:01 when sophomore midfielder David Moreira headed home a corner kick by freshman midfielder Daniel Ramm.
Rutgers-Camden broke the shutout bid by Paterson's sophomore keeper Thomas Hatch on a goal with 8:32 remaining. Junior midfielder
Liam Craver collected a deflected ball in the box and finished off the play for his first goal of the year.
Rutgers-Camden made it a one-goal game with 1:19 remaining as senior forward
Skyler Diggs hustled to a loose ball on the right side of the box and finished off a shot to the left panel. It was the team-leading second goal of the season for Diggs and allowed him to tie Andrew Dorsey (2005-08) for seventh place on the program's career goal list with 30. Diggs also vaulted into ninth place for career points with 65, one more than Rodney Guishard (2004-07).
Rutgers-Camden held a 13-12 edge in shots and Paterson held a 5-4 margin in corner kicks. Both teams also were denied goals on a shot off the post.
Hatch made five saves to earn the victory. Freshman
Connor Smith notched four saves in the Scarlet Raptor net.
Rutgers-Camden will play its first road game of the season on Wednesday when it travels to Jersey City to face the New Jersey City University Gothic Knights at 3 p.m.
