CAMDEN, N.J. (Oct. 26, 2022) – The Rutgers University-Camden men's soccer team did its part in a bid for a home playoff game on Senior Night here Wednesday.
Unfortunately for the Scarlet Raptors, despite posting a 3-0 victory over The College of New Jersey, they finished the New Jersey Athletic Conference regular season locked in a three-way tie for the third, fourth and fifth spots for the upcoming NJAC playoffs. After applying the head-to-head tie-breakers, Rutgers-Camden finished as the fifth seed, meaning it will travel to fourth-seeded Rutgers-Newark Saturday at 7:30 p.m. for a first-round game. The two teams played to a 3-3 tie in Camden on Oct. 15.
NJAC Playoff Bracket
The Scarlet Raptors finished the regular season with a 7-7-6 overall record and a 4-2-3 mark in the conference. TCNJ closed its season at 7-10-1 overall and 2-7 in the NJAC.
Prior to the game, the Scarlet Raptors honored 10 senior players,
Prince Boafo, Michael Campbell, Liam Craver, Christian McCartney, Kyle Norton, Raimondo Partito, Boluwatife Sanya, Khari Shepherd, Parker Solowey and
Daniel Tittelmayer.
The two teams appeared destined to head into halftime with a scoreless tie before a TCNJ foul gave the Scarlet Raptors a free kick 25 yards out from the net in the 45th minute. Sophomore midfielder
Reed Sviben took the kick and laced a perfect shot past the TCNJ defensive wall and inside the right post for his first career goal. His tally, at 44:01, also proved to be his first career game-winning goal.
Rutgers-Camden collected a huge insurance goal at 77:07 after TCNJ goalie Walker Smith came far out of his net, halfway to midfield, in the attempt to clear a ball his teammates left in the open. He didn't get there in time and Solowey deftly chipped a long shot over his head and into the empty net.
The Raptors tacked on their final goal at 86:50 when Solowey fed Campbell at the left side of the box. Campbell finished with a shot to the right of the net for his second goal of the season.
Rutgers-Camden finished with a 12-9 advantage in shots and a 5-4 edge in corner kicks. Smith made three saves in the Lions' goal. Sophomore
Sean Boen, who on Monday earned his second NJAC Defensive Player of the Week honor this season, had six saves for the Scarlet Raptors. He notched his seventh shutout of the year.
