No. 13/17 Rutgers-Camden posts 5-0 win

September 11, 2013

ST. DAVIDS, Penn. (Sept. 11, 2013) – Once the Rutgers University-Camden men’s soccer team finally broke through the defensive dam of the Eastern University Eagles here Wednesday afternoon, the goals poured in fast and furious.

Rutgers-Camden, ranked No. 13 in the D3soccer.com Top 25 poll and No. 17 in the NSCAA Division III national rankings, scored five second-half goals to post a 5-0 victory over the Eagles in the non-conference game. It was the third straight 5-0 win for the Scarlet Raptors, who have posted four consecutive shutouts and have opened the season with six straight wins.

The Scarlet Raptors also are ranked seventh nationally by masseyrating.com and eighth by bennettranking.com.

Eastern, which received 55 votes toward this week’s D3soccer.com Top 25 poll, falls to 3-1.

Rutgers-Camden has now gone 15-0-3 in its last 18 games since a 4-3 overtime loss at Montclair State University on Sept. 29, 2012. The program record for undefeated games is 19 over two seasons, with the last two wins of 2003 and a 13-0-4 start in 2004.

The two teams played to a scoreless first-half draw before the Scarlet Raptors jumped on the scoreboard 3:14 into the second half. Senior back Matt Macey (Bridgeton, NJ/St. Augustine Prep) served the ball over the Eagles’ back line to spring sophomore forward Mike Ryan (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) in a one-on-one with Eastern freshman goalie Joe Centeno (Mt. Airy, MD/Linganore). Ryan scored his team-leading eighth goal of the season and the 25th of his brief 28-game collegiate career. He passed Kadalah Kromah (1973-74) and moved into seventh place on the program’s all-time goal-scoring list.

Once the Scarlet Raptors broke the ice, they kept on scoring. A pair of senior midfielders combined for a goal at 61:40 as Stevan Austino (Buena, NJ/Buena Regional) finished a volley by Mitch Grotti (Milmay, NJ/Millville) for his second tally of the season. It was the team-leading sixth assist for Grotti, who tied for fifth on the program’s all-time assist chart with Ruthven Williams (1976-79). Both players own 20 assists. Grotti also increased his career point total to 104, the second-highest total in program history.

The quick-strike capability of the Raptors was on display again at 68:20 when sophomore back Zev Fayer (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern Regional) headed in a corner kick by sophomore midfielder Grant Taylor (Tewksbury, NJ/West Morris-Mendham). It was the first assist of the season for Taylor and the first collegiate points for Fayer.

The Raptors tacked on an own goal at 82:51 and five minutes later, sophomore midfielder/back Ramadan Bayyan (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill West) scored off an assist from sophomore midfielder Jake Dowiak (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown). It was the first points at Rutgers-Camden for Bayyan, who scored one goal last season as a freshman while playing for Salisbury University, the team the Raptors host Saturday at 2 p.m.

While the Raptors were lighting up the scoreboard again, senior goalie Mike Randall (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East) notched two saves to record his fourth straight shutout – one shy of the program record – and raise his consecutive shutout minute string to 379:45. He has a 0.67 goals-against average for the season.

Centeno made four saves for Eastern as Rutgers-Camden held an 18-8 advantage in shots and a 9-6 margin in corner kicks.

The Scarlet Raptors have now out-scored opponents, 23-4, this season.