Kayla McKeever completed her standout Rutgers-Camden soccer career in 2023, serving as one of the team’s tri-captains while helping the Scarlet Raptors qualify for the New Jersey Athletic Conference playoffs for the fifth straight season. In 38 career games in the Raptor goal, McKeever posted a 1.27 goals-against average, the second-best GAA in program history among all keepers who reached the NCAA qualifying minimum of 2,500 minutes played.
McKeever finished sixth on the program’s career list with 3,053:39 minutes in goal. She set a program career record with sevn goalie ties, tied for third in career goalie shutouts (9), while tying for third in shutouts (9), finishing sevens in shots faced (370), goals against (43) and saves (149) and tying for seventh in wins (11).
McKeever was half of a record-setting rookie goalie tandem at Rutgers-Camden during the brief 2020 season, a seven-game slate played in the 2021 spring semester due to the pandemic. Along with Chloe Beasley, McKeever helped the Scarlet Raptors post a team 0.28 goals-against average and collect five shutouts to open the season. The five shutouts marked the only time in program history the Scarlet Raptors blanked five consecutive New Jersey Athletic Conference opponents.
A standout in the classroom as well, McKeever earned numerous academic honors.
Academics: New Jersey Athletic Conference Academic First Team for the 2023-24 scholastic year…NJAC Academic Honorable Mention for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 scholastic years…Captured honors as Rutgers-Camden’s Wilbur W. Wilson Scholar Athlete of the Year for the 2023-24 scholastic year…Member of the Rutgers-Camden Athletic Director’s Honor Roll and a Dean’s List student for the 2020 Fall, 2021 Spring, 2021 Fall, 2022 Spring, 2022 Fall, 2023 Spring and 2023 Fall semesters…One of only 29 athletes on the 151-member 2020 Fall AD Honor Roll to earn a 4.0 GPA…One of only 26 athletes on the 142-member 2021 Fall AD Honor Roll to earn a 4.0 GPA…One of only 26 athletes on the 119-member 2022 Spring AD Honor Roll to earn a 4.0 GPA…One of only 25 athletes on the 133-member 2022 Fall AD Honor Roll to post a 4.0 GPA.
Soccer 2023: Team tri-captain…Named Rutgers-Camden’s Raptor of the Week on Oct. 23…Posted a 4-7 record with three shutouts and a 1.00 goals-against average…Started all 11 of her games…Faced 149 shots, made 56 saves and allowed 11 goals…Notched a save percentage of .836…Played 990 minutes…Out of her seven losses, the Scarlet Raptors scored a total of one goal, being blanked in six games, including five losses by 1-0 scores…Made her season debut in a 1-0 loss – on a penalty kick – at SUNY-Oneonta (Sept. 10), making three saves…Had a season-high nine saves to record a 2-1 victory over Stockton (Oct. 18)…Posted shutout wins over Ramapo (1-0 with four saves, Sept. 27), Kean (2-0 with two saves, Oct. 7) and Rutgers-Newark (1-0 with six saves, Oct. 14)…Faced a season-high 23 shots in a 3-0 loss at Rowan (Oct. 11), while making seven saves…Also made seven saves in a 1-0 loss at Montclair State (Oct. 21)…Faced 21 shots and had six saves in a 1-0 loss at Arcadia (Sept. 19)…Had five saves in a 1-0 loss against The College of New Jersey (Oct. 25)…Made three saves in a 1-0 NJAC playoff loss at New Jersey City University (Oct. 28).
Soccer 2022: Appeared in 15 games, starting 13…played in 1,232:15 minutes…Notched a 2-6-6 record and a 1.90 goals-against average…Made 60 saves and posted a .698 save percentage…Faced 149 shots…Had three solo shutouts and shared another shutout with Michaela Graham…Notched one save in a 1-0 shutout over Albright (Sept. 17)…Had four saves in a 3-0 shutout of Ramapo (Sept. 28)…Collected two saves in 50:10 of playing time while splitting a 0-0 shutout at Kean with Graham…Made her season high of eight saves during a 1-1 tie at Rutgers-Newark (Oct. 15)…Had six saves in a 3-3 tie against Stockton (Oct. 19) in the next game…Collected seven saves as the Scarlet Raptors tied Montclair State, 0-0 in double overtime, in the New Jersey Athletic Conference semifinals (Nov. 2) before the Red Hawks won on penalty kicks…Played her season high of 110 minutes and faced penalty kicks in both NJAC playoff games against Rutgers-Newark (1-1, Oct. 29) and the Montclair State game, making 12 saves in the playoffs while allowing only one goal…Earned Rutgers-Camden Raptor of the Week on Nov. 7 after her playoff performance.
Soccer 2021: Played in eight games, starting five and posting a 3-3-1 record…Faced 63 shots and made 29 saves…Posted a 0.89 save percentage, two shutouts and an .829 save percentage…Opened the season splitting a shutout with Beasley, playing the second half of a 1-0 victory over Elizabethtown College (Sept. 2)…Made four saves during the second half of a 2-1 loss to Adrian College (Sept. 4), facing 10 shots, allowing the first two goals of her collegiate career and taking the loss…Made her first start of the season and played the full 90 minutes to post a 1-0 shutout over Goucher College (Oct. 6), facing six shots and saving the three Gopher shots on goal…Earned the win in a 2-1 victory at Ramapo College (Oct. 9), allowing one goal in 49:48 and making four saves…Played a terrific game against the nation’s top-ranked team, The College of New Jersey, on Oct. 13, holding the Lions to one goal in a 1-0 loss…Faced 14 shots in that game and saved six of the seven shots on goal…Combined for a 3-0 shutout over New Jersey City University (Oct. 16), playing 79:27 and making one save to pick up the win…Earned her second shutout, working all 110 minutes during a 0-0 double-overtime tie against Ursinus College (Oct. 20), making her season high of seven saves…Played the full 97:09 in a 2-1 overtime loss against Rutgers-Newark (Oct. 23), making four saves.
Soccer 2020: Played in four games, starting two…Didn’t allow a goal in 225 minutes, posting a 0.00 goals-against average…Her 225 consecutive scoreless minutes, which will carry over to the 2021 season, mark the 11th-longest goalie shutout streak in program history…Faced nine shots (four on goal) and made four saves to post a 1.000 save percentage…Collected one shutout and combined with Beasley for three team shutouts…Posted a 2-0 record…Made her collegiate debut playing the second half of the 3-0 season-opening win over Ramapo (March 10), facing three shots (two on goal) and making two saves…Had her first collegiate start and earned her first win, playing the first half of a 2-0 victory over New Jersey City (March 17), facing three shots (one on goal) and making one save…Combined with Beasley for a 1-0 shutout over Stockton (March 20), playing the second half and facing two shots, with neither one on goal…Earned her first collegiate shutout and second victory, playing the entire 90 minutes in a rain storm at Kean University and making one save in a 2-0 Scarlet Raptor win.
High School: Academic Scholar at Williamstown High School, receiving straight A’s every semester for four years…4.0 GPA through high school…Graduated in 2020.
Club Team: RUSA FC
Personal: Born August 16, 2002…Hobbies and interests include soccer, hanging out with friend and watching TV…Finance major at Rutgers-Camden who plans to work in some sort of finance job…Kayla is the daughter of Kris and Dennis McKeever of Williamstown.
