CAMDEN, N.J. (October 26, 2011) – While the Rutgers University-Camden men’s soccer team had already locked up the top seed in the upcoming New Jersey Athletic Conference playoffs, the New Jersey City University Gothic Knights were playing for their post-season life in the final regular-season NJAC game of the season here Wednesday night.

Neither team got the result it wanted, but the 0-0 double-overtime tie was a lot more costly to the Gothic Knights, who were eliminated from the six-team playoff picture.

The tie snapped Rutgers-Camden’s six-game winning streak, but the Scarlet Raptors, ranked 10th in the nation, closed the regular season as the No. 1 seed in the playoffs with a 6-0-2 NJAC record. They will have home field advantage throughout their run in the conference tournament and after a first-round bye will host a semifinal game Nov. 2 at 7 p.m.

The tie extended the Raptors’ unbeaten streak to 12 games (10-0-2), the second-longest streak in program history behind the 17-game (13-0-4) run in 2004.

NJCU, which needed a win Wednesday and a loss by Richard Stockton College to sneak into the playoffs, closes its season at 6-10-2 overall and 2-5-1 in the NJAC. The tie snapped the Gothic Knights’ three-game winning streak.

In a game that also served as Senior Night for Scarlet Raptors Tim VanLiew (Deptford, NJ/Deptford), Chris Edelschein (Medford Lakes, NJ/Shawnee) and Curtis Osusky (Sparta, NJ/Sparta), Rutgers-Camden out-shot NJCU, 36-12, and held an 8-6 advantage in corner kicks. The Scarlet Raptors had numerous opportunities in regulation – with a 25-9 shots advantage – and in the pair of 10-minute overtime periods (11-3), but sent shots high or wide. They also watched NJCU collect one backsave, block several shots and receive 10 saves from freshman goalie Daniel Sequeira (South River, NJ/South River).

While there was plenty of traffic around Sequeira’s net all night long, NJCU also had a few chances. Its best opportunity came with 2:40 remaining in the second overtime when freshman forward Raphael Araujo (North Plainfield, NJ/North Plainfield) broke into the box one-on-one with Raptor keeper VanLiew and fired a shot that VanLiew deflected over the crossbar.

The Scarlet Raptor trio of sophomores Mitch Grotti (Milmay, NJ/Millville) and Zaiere Putmon (Williamstown, NJ/Williamstown) and freshman Joe Auleta (Atco, NJ/Hammonton) accounted for 23 shots between them, with Grotti taking 10, Auleta seven and Putmon six. Putmon had a game-high four shots on goal for the Raptors.

NJCU junior Gabriel Avans (Roselle Park, NJ/Union Catholic) had a team-high four shots for the Gothic Knights, with three on goal.

VanLiew made five saves for the Scarlet Raptors to notch his eighth shutout of the season and extend his career record to 28 shutouts.

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