Rutgers-Camden Athletics

One of the top student-athletes on the Scarlet Raptors’ soccer team, Mario Mandescu was named New Jersey Athletic Conference Academic Honorable Mention for the 2016-17 scholastic year. The Accounting major also earned a berth on the Rutgers-Camden Athletic Director’s Honor Roll during both the Fall 2016 and Spring 2017 semesters.
 
A two-year Raptor soccer letterman, Mandescu has appeared in 14 games at Rutgers-Camden, starting one. He has contributed to six shutouts over that span.
 
Soccer 2016: Played in eight games for the Scarlet Raptors…Contributed to four of the team’s seven shutouts…Made his season debut against St. Mary’s (Sept. 2) during a season-opening 3-3 tie…Played in shutouts against Alvernia (1-0, Sept. 7), Farmingdale State (4-0, Sept. 10), Rutgers-Newark (3-0, Sept. 17) and Swarthmore (0-0, Oct. 26)…Played a career-high 53 minutes in a 2-1 loss at Stockton University (Oct. 26).
 
Soccer 2015: Appeared in six games, starting one, as a freshman midfielder…Played in two of the team’s eight shutouts…Made his collegiate debut playing 30 minutes in a season-opening 9-0 win over Rosemont College (Sept. 1)…Also saw action in a 1-0 win over Cabrini College (Sept. 16) and a 3-1 victory over William Paterson University (Sept. 19)…Played his season high of 45 minutes in a 7-1 win over Misericordia University (Sept. 23)…Played 14 minutes in a 5-1 win over Ramapo College (Oct. 10)…Made his first career start and played 20 minutes in a 1-0 loss at Swarthmore College (Oct. 21).
 
High School: Captured four varsity soccer letters for Coach Jim Bonder at Haddon Township High School…Three-time All-Conference, including First Team his junior and senior seasons…Conference Player of the Year as a senior…Soccer Coaches Association of New Jersey First Team South Sectional All-State as a senior…Captured First Team All-South Jersey from both the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Courier-Post newspaper as a senior, while leading the Hawks to the 2014 Group 1 state championship game…Notched program-record 56 goals and record-tying 33 assists at Haddon Township…Earned All-South Jersey Second Team honors from the Courier-Post as a junior…Helped team win Group 1 state title during freshman season…Also earned three varsity letters in tennis for the Hawks…Graduated in 2015.
 
Club Team: South Jersey Barons.
 
Personal: Born September 9, 1997…Last name pronounced “Man-desk-u”…Enjoys basketball, tennis, hanging out with friends and playing Xbox…Dual Accounting and Finance major at Rutgers-Camden who plans to become an accountant…Mario is the son of Marga and Sorin Mandescu of Mount Ephraim.