Camden, NJ - Two early goals by No. 2 Rutgers-Camden proved to be the difference as Montclair State closed out its season one step shy of the NCAA Division III Final Four with a 2-1 loss to the Scarlet Raptors on Sunday in the Elite 8 at RUC Community Park.
The Scarlet Raptors scored three minutes apart during the first seven minutes of the contest and now advance to the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship in San Antonio, TX on December 6-7.
Montclair State, looking for its second trip to the Final Four in three seasons, ends its year at 17-4-3. The Red Hawks were making their third consecutive appearance in the Elite 8 and the fourth overall in program history. Sophomore
Lucas Terci (Union, NJ, Union) scored the lone goal for MSU on a penalty kick in the 68th minute.
With both teams and spectators battling temperatures in the low 20s, the action between the two New Jersey Athletic Conference teams heated up quickly on the field. After surviving an opening surge by the Red Hawks, Rutgers-Camden countered on the attack when senior midfielder Forrest Bennfors (Woking, England/Madison) brought the ball forward and had a shot attempt blocked, with the ball falling to sophomore midfielder Connor Hurff (Sewell, NJ/St. Augustine Prep). Hurff finished off his eighth goal of the season from 25 yards out only 3:47 into the contest.
Rutgers-Camden, which was ranked No. 2 nationally in the final regular-season
D3soccer.com Top 25 and No. 3 in the NSCAA poll, didn't wait long to pad its lead. Only three minutes later, Hurff fed sophomore forward Mike Ryan (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) for a shot from practically the same spot, and Ryan drilled in his team-leading 21st goal of the season. The goal turned out to be his ninth game-winning tally of the year, tying the program record set by teammate Mitch Grotti (Milmay, NJ/Millville) in 2011, and also gave Ryan 46 points on the season, one more than Grotti's mark also set in 2011.
The Scarlet Raptors out-shot the Red Hawks, 14-9, in the opening half, but Montclair State stepped up the attack in the final 45 minutes as the intensity increased. The Red Hawks, ranked 13th in the final regular-season
D3soccer.com poll and No. 22 in the NSCAA Top 25, finally broke through on the scoreboard after freshman back
Sean Pritchard (Ramsey, NJ, Ramsey) was taken down during intense action in the box. Terci took the resulting penalty kick and scored his team-leading 12th goal, cutting the gap to 2-1 with 25:20 remaining in the game.
Rutgers-Camden's back four of seniors Bobby Foster (Burlington, NJ/Burlington Township), Matt Macey (Bridgeton, NJ/St. Augustine Prep), Taylor McGrory (Collingswood, NJ/Sterling) and junior Eric Cutry (Medford Lakes, NJ/Shawnee) weathered the Red Hawks' second-half pressure, but it was a play by senior keeper Mike Randall (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East) that denied the tying goal. With 7:30 remaining in the contest, the dangerous Terci got free in the box for a point-blank one-on-one shot that Randall somehow was able to bat clear of the net, saving a certain goal.
Rutgers-Camden finished with a slim 20-19 advantage in shots for the game – the Red Hawks held a 10-6 margin in the second half – and Montclair State took one more corner kick, 6-5. Randall finished with five saves, while Montclair State junior keeper
Kevin Lynch (Cinnaminson, NJ, Cinnaminson) had three.
