News Release

Rutgers-Camden set for NCAA tourney debut

CAMDEN (Nov. 10, 2008) � The Rutgers University-Camden men�s soccer team has been setting numerous program records this season and now the Scarlet Raptors have added an historical first to their list of accomplishments.

Rutgers-Camden earned an at-large berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament today, becoming the first men�s program in the school�s athletic history to qualify a team for the national tournament. The Scarlet Raptors, who at 16-4-2 have won more games than any team in program history, will play their first NCAA game Nov. 15 at 5 p.m. against host Swarthmore College (15-2-2) as part of a first-round tournament doubleheader. Salisbury University (15-3-3) and Dickinson College (12-3-3) will play in the other game at 7:30 p.m. The winners will play Nov. 16 at 6 p.m.

Only five previous Rutgers-Camden teams ever participated in the NCAA tournament and all of them were women�s programs. The Lady Raptors� basketball program became the school�s first NCAA tournament team in 2003. The Rutgers-Camden softball team went to four straight NCAA tournaments from 2004-2007, winning the national title in 2006.

Rutgers-Camden is coming off a 1-0 loss in the New Jersey Athletic Conference championship game Friday night at Montclair State University. It was the Raptors� second loss of the season to the Red Hawks, who at 20-0 are ranked No. 3 nationally and earned the NJAC�s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Raptors� other two losses also came against NCAA Tournament teams � a 2-0 loss to York (PA) College, which was ranked No. 3 nationally at the time and since moved up to No. 2, and a 6-3 loss to conference foe Richard Stockton College, which has been ranked as high as No. 15 nationally. The Raptors beat Stockton, 2-1 in the second overtime, in a rematch Nov. 4 in the NJAC semifinals.

Swarthmore is ranked No. 11 nationally, making the contest against the Garnet the 12th game the Raptors have played this season against a club that has been in the national rankings this season. Rutgers-Camden is 5-4-2 in their first 11 games against ranked foes.
Montclair State�s NJAC win snapped the Scarlet Raptors� seven-game unbeaten streak (6-0-1). Over those seven games, the Raptors allowed only two goals.

Rutgers-Camden enters the NCAA tournament with a 0.91 goals-against average, the fourth-best team GAA in program history and barely trailing the third-place 0.90 GAA from 2001. The Raptors� 11 shutouts are tied for second on the all-time single-season list with the 2004 team. The record is 12 from 1981.

When the Scarlet Raptors edged Richard Stockton College, 2-1, in the second overtime of their NJAC semifinal game Nov. 4, they posted their 16th win of the season to set a program record. The previous program record of 15 was shared by the teams in 2004 (15-2-4) and 2005 (15-5-1).

During the season, the Scarlet Raptors won a pair of tournament championships. They opened the campaign with victories against a pair of pre-season ranked teams, No. 9 North Carolina Wesleyan (1-0, Aug. 30) and No. 25 Greensboro (3-1, Aug. 31) to capture the North Carolina Wesleyan Fall Classic. That start lifted Rutgers-Camden into the national rankings at No. 20 on Sept. 2.

Rutgers-Camden also won its own Cialella Soccer Classic (Sept. 5 and 7) on the way to winning its first seven games, setting a program record for the best perfect start in program history at 7-0.

The Scarlet Raptors rose to No. 10 in the NSCAA/adidas Division III Top 25 poll on Sept. 23, the program�s highest NCAA ranking ever.

Individually, freshman Tim VanLiew (Deptford, NJ/Deptford) has collected every decision in goal this season, breaking the old mark of 13 goalie wins set by Jim Skene in 1981. VanLiew also tied a program record of five straight shutouts by Skene (1981) and Pete DeFeo (1987) and set a program mark with 565:25 consecutive shutout minutes in goal from Oct. 15-Nov. 4. That streak broke the program mark of 561:35 set by Skene in 1981.

VanLiew owns a 0.88 goals-against average, which currently ranks as the third best single-season GAA in program history.

VanLiew was named the NJAC Rookie of the Week on Monday for the second time this season. He also has been named the NJAC Defensive Player of the Week twice and earned one honor as the ECAC Division III Metro Defensive Player of the Week.

Offensively, the Scarlet Raptors are paced by forwards Andrew Dorsey (Mt. Laurel, NJ/The King�s Christian School) and Todd Kleinstuber (Washington Township, NJ/Washington Township). Dorsey, a senior, has eight goals and six assists for 22 points, while Kleinstuber owns eight goals for 16 points. Kleinstuber, a freshman who has captured four honors this season as the NJAC Rookie of the Week, leads the team with four game-winning goals, a mark that ties the program�s single-season record.

Dorsey owns 30 goals, 13 assists and 73 points over his four-year Raptor career. He ranks fifth on the program�s all-time list in goals and points.

Dorsey is one of four Scarlet Raptors to earn all-conference honors this season. He joined sophomore midfielder Shane McGrory (Stratford, NJ/Sterling) on the NJAC Second Team. McGrory and Dorsey are tied for the team lead with six assists apiece.

A pair of Rutgers-Camden backs, senior A.J. O�Malley (Westmont, NJ/Haddon Township) and junior Chase Komer (Williamstown, NJ/Williamstown) each earned NJAC Honorable Mention. O�Malley, Komer, junior back Tom Collins (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) and junior midfielder Mark Gidjunis (Cinnaminson, NJ/Cinnaminson) serve as the Raptors� four captains. O�Malley has been one of the team captains for three straight years.

Swarthmore earned its NCAA Tournament berth by winning the Centennial Conference Championship with a 1-0 victory over Johns Hopkins Sunday. The Garnet scored the only goal they needed on a second-half strike by freshman David Sterngold (Muncy, PA/Muncy).
Swarthmore has been ranked in the NSCAA/adidas Top 25 most of the season, peaking at No. 11 on Sept. 16, Oct. 7 and in the current Nov. 4 poll). The team will be making its fourth NCAA Division III tournament appearance and first since 1991. Swarthmore was a Division III finalist in 1974.

With 15 wins, the Garnet set a program single-season record. Swarthmore enters Saturday�s game with a club-record 11-game unbeaten streak (10-0-1) and hasn�t lost since a 1-0 setback against Arcadia Sept. 24. The Garnet outshot Arcadia, 25-5, in that game.

Senior forward Evan Nesternak (Parker, CO/Ponderosa) leads the Garnet in scoring with nine goals for 18 points. Junior midfielder Dylan Langley (Honolulu, HI/Iolani School) is second in scoring with six goals and five assists for 17 points, followed by Sterngold (6-0-12). Leading the team with six assists is sophomore forward Morgan Langley (Honolulu, HI/Iolani School), who also owns two goals for 10 points.

The Garnet�s top goalie has been freshman David D�Annuzio (Piedmont, CA/Piedmont), who owns an 8-2 record, seven shutouts and a 0.60 goals-against average.



Submitted 2008-11-11 06:55:15 by Rutgers University-Camden Sports Information Department

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