CAMDEN, N.J. (October 22, 2011) – It was Homecoming Day on campus and the Rutgers University-Camden men’s soccer team gave the school a special gift.

The Scarlet Raptors posted a 1-0 victory over Ramapo College here Saturday afternoon to wrap up the first regular-season New Jersey Athletic Conference soccer crown in program history.

Sophomore forward Mitch Grotti (Milmay, NJ/Millville) scored his team-leading 16th goal at 63:59 and the Scarlet Raptors nailed down the victory and the title with their seventh shutout of the season. Rutgers-Camden, which is ranked No. 10 in the NSCAA Division III Top 25 poll and No. 16 in the d3soccer.com national rankings, improves to 14-2-1 overall and 6-0-1 in the NJAC.

The Scarlet Raptors, who already had clinched a first-round bye in the NJAC playoffs, will have home field advantage throughout their run in the conference tournament, beginning with a 7 p.m. semifinal game Nov. 2.

For the Roadrunners, the loss put a damper on their fading chances of reaching the six-team NJAC playoffs. With a 7-6-2 mark overall and a 1-4-1 record in the NJAC, Ramapo needs to win its final two games against New Jersey City University (Monday) and Montclair State University (Wednesday) and have Richard Stockton College lose its final two games against Montclair State (Saturday night) and Rutgers-Newark (Wednesday).

The victory extended the Scarlet Raptors’ undefeated streak to 11 games (10-0-1), tying for the second-longest unbeaten string in program history with the 1983 squad (8-0-3). The record streak was set in 2004 when the Raptors opened the season with a 17-game run (13-0-4).

Rutgers-Camden out-shot Ramapo, 31-16, in the game, including 14-8 in the opening half. The Scarlet Raptors nearly scored early in the game, but Ramapo junior keeper David Lo Bue (Elmwood Park, NJ/Don Bosco Prep) made a terrific one-on-one save against sophomore midfielder Zaiere Putmon (Williamstown, NJ/Williamstown), who had a strong performance for the Raptors.

With the clock winding down in the first half, Ramapo nearly took the lead when its dangerous junior forward Rob Santaniello (Oakland, NJ/Ramapo) had a breakaway and hit a shot off the right post, which deflected into the arms of Raptor senior keeper Tim VanLiew (Deptford, NJ/Deptford) at the goal line.

While the Scarlet Raptors did a fine job all day long containing the dangerous Santaniello, who has 15 goals this season, and junior midfielder Jonathan Yazo (Cliffside Park, NJ/Cliffside Park), a playmaker with 12 assists, Rutgers-Camden was having its own problems finishing off its numerous opportunities.

In addition to their advantage in shots, the Raptors held a 10-2 margin in corner kicks.

The lone goal finally came with 26:01 remaining in regulation when Grotti took a feed from freshman midfielder Joe Auleta (Atco, NJ/Hammonton) and hit his own shot off the right post. This one bounded into the net for Grotti’s 16th goal overall and eighth game-winning goal this season, extending his own program single-season record.

Lo Bue finished with nine saves for the Roadrunners, who also had a backsave. VanLiew had eight saves to post his seventh shutout and extend his career shutout mark to 27.

Both teams return to NJAC action next week with games against New Jersey City University. The Roadrunners travel to Jersey City for a 1 p.m. makeup game Monday.

The Scarlet Raptors host the Gothic Knights Wednesday at 6 p.m. in their final regular-season game. The game will serve as Senior Day for Scarlet Raptors VanLiew, Chris Edelschein (Medford Lakes, NJ/Shawnee) and Curtis Osusky (Sparta, NJ/Sparta).

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