CAMDEN, N.J. (October 30, 2024) – The Rutgers University-Camden women's soccer team entered its final game of the season here Wednesday night knowing that it needed to take at least one point in its head-to-head battle with Montclair State University to have a chance to make the New Jersey Athletic Conference playoffs.
 
The way the rest of the conference results played out on Wednesday, one point would have put the Scarlet Raptors in the playoffs for the seventh straight season, but Rutgers-Camden fought an uphill battle from early in the game.
 
Montclair State scored a pair of goals within the opening nine minutes and went on to defeat Rutgers-Camden, 3-0.
 
The Scarlet Raptors finished in a two-way tie for seventh place in the NJAC standings with eight points (2-5-2), one point shy of the last two qualifiers, Kean and New Jersey City. If the Scarlet Raptors had been able to forge a three-way tie with those teams, they would have held the tie-breaker and replaced NJCU in the six-team playoff field.  
 
Rutgers-Camden closed its season with a 7-8-4 record.
 
Montclair State, which will be the third seed and host a first-round playoff game on Saturday, improved to 9-5-5 overall and 6-2-1 in conference play.
 
Unfortunately for Rutgers-Camden, its final game came down to playing against the Red Hawks, one of the two NJAC teams the Scarlet Raptors have never beaten. Montclair State holds a 26-0-4 record in its all-time series against Rutgers-Camden.
 
The Red Hawks applied plenty of pressure in the opening half with an 11-3 advantage in shots, and scored the only goal they needed at 6:37. Junior forward Mackenzie Albert worked the ball down the right side to the goal line and sent a cross onto the doorstep that was finished by junior forward Kylie Prendergast for her sixth goal of the season. It wound up being her third game-winning goal.
 
A little over two minutes later, Montclair State doubled its lead when a corner kick by senior back Emmi DeNovellis was redirected into the net by junior back Julie Baker. Her first goal of the season came at 8:49.
 
Montclair State closed out its scoring at 34:04 when freshman forward Samira Lukovic assisted on the fourth goal of the season by senior midfielder Niki Danz.
 
Montclair State finished with a 19-4 advantage in shots, including a 14-3 margin in shots on goal. Raptor senior goalie Michaela Graham made her season high of 11 saves. Red Hawks freshman goalie Salange Bell, who was named the NJAC Rookie of the Week on Monday, recorded her third straight shutout with three saves.
 
Montclair State finished with a 7-4 advantage in corner kicks.