CAMDEN, N.J. (Oct. 22, 2022) – The Rutgers University-Camden women's soccer team realized it had the toughest schedule in the New Jersey Athletic Conference for its last two games of the regular season, but the undermanned Scarlet Raptors gave nationally-ranked Montclair State University a tough game before finally losing, 3-0, here Saturday.
The Red Hawks, ranked 12th in the United Soccer Coaches Division III Top 25 poll and 13th in the D3soccer.com Top 25 poll, improved to 15-1 overall and 7-1 in the NJAC. Rutgers-Camden, missing several players due to injuries and a family wedding, fell to 4-7-4 overall and 3-2-3 in the NJAC.
With the results of Saturday's NJAC night action, Rutgers-Camden holds a narrow lead for fourth place in the NJAC standings, one point ahead of Rutgers-Newark and two ahead of Kean. While the top six teams all make the playoffs, only the first four teams are guaranteed a home game. The third- and fourth-place teams will play first-round home games on Oct. 29, while the top two teams will have a bye into the conference semifinals.
With a rugged defensive effort, Rutgers-Camden frustrated the high-powered Red Hawks practically the entire first half, holding them to three shots. Unfortunately, one of those shots was a penalty kick by junior Aileen Cahill after an inadvertent trip in the box. Cahill scored her team-leading 14th goal at 24:44 with a shot into the upper right corner.
Montclair State added breathing room in the second half when freshman forward Kylie Prendergast collected goals in the 56th and 57th minutes. Her 11th goal of the season angled from the left side off the right post and into the net at 55:53. Her 12th goal came at 56:47 after she collected the rebound of a shot by junior Samantha Gabriele the was saved by Raptor junior keeper
Kayla McKeever.
Montclair State held advantages of 12-1 in shots and 9-0 in corner kicks. McKeever finished with five saves, while Red Hawk senior Haley Martin posted the shutout without a save.
Rutgers-Camden closes the regular season at nationally-ranked The College of New Jersey in a 6 p.m. NJAC game Oct. 26. The Lions currently are ranked 18th and 15th in the two national polls. Newark will host New Jersey City University Wednesday, while Kean plays at Montclair State.
