NEWARK, N.J. (Oct. 29, 2022) – The Rutgers University-Newark men's soccer team spent most of the evening here Saturday zipping shots around the Rutgers-Camden goal in the first round of the New Jersey Athletic Conference playoffs.
 
Most of those shots were off the mark and the ones that weren't were saved by the Scarlet Raptors' stellar sophomore goalkeeper Sean Boen.
 
When it came time for penalty kicks after a 0-0 draw through two overtimes, it was Rutgers-Camden that was on the mark on every shot. As a result, the Scarlet Raptors advanced to the NJAC semifinals with a 5-4 penalty kick advantage. It was the fifth straight time the Scarlet Raptors have knocked the Scarlet Raiders out of the NJAC tournament (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2022) in head-to-head battles.
 
Rutgers-Camden (7-7-7), the fifth seed in the NJAC playoffs, will play Tuesday at 7 p.m. at top-seeded Montclair State University. The Scarlet Raptors' seven ties are the most in program history, one more than during the 13-4-6 season in 2006, which was the first year under current Head Coach Tim Oswald.
 
Through 110 minutes, the fourth-seeded Scarlet Raiders (6-5-6) held a 27-5 advantage in shots, although their shots on goal advantage was only 9-2. Boen, however, made nine saves for Rutgers-Camden, while Newark senior keeper Christian Andrach had two. Boen is a two-time NJAC Defensive Player of the Week this season.
 
Rutgers-Camden held a 5-3 advantage in corner kicks through the double-overtime game.
 
When it came time for penalty kicks, Newark's Franco Catania and Raptor senior Christian McCartney both buried their shots low to the right side to open the shootout. During the second round of kicks, however, Newark's Jonah Dias drilled a shot off the crossbar and that was the break the Scarlet Raptors needed. Graduate student Liam Craver made his shot to the lower left side to give Rutgers-Camden a 2-1 lead and everyone else on both teams followed with successful penalty kicks. Rutgers-Camden senior Parker Solowey hit his shot high to the right side after Newark's Pablo Moreno made his shot. In the fourth round, Newark's Jake Milne made a successful shot, but the Raptors' freshman Tommy Monaghan countered with a high shot into the right side of the net, giving the Raptors a 4-3 lead.
 
On the last round, Newark temporarily tied the shootout on a shot by Joe Alba, but Raptor senior Khari Shepherd clinched the victory with a high shot into the center of the net.