Rutgers-Camden wins NCWC Fall Classic; Bishops take second

Rocky Mount, NC - The Scarlet Raptors of Rutgers-Camden went 2-0 at the 2008 NCWC Men’s Soccer Fall Classic this weekend, taking home the championship and ending the Bishops’ three-year run as tournament champions.  RUC earned a 1-0 win over Wesleyan on Saturday before knocking off Greensboro by a 3-1 score on Sunday.  The Battling Bishops earned a runner-up finish with a convincing 4-1 win over Kean in the tourney’s final game.  NCWC is now 1-1 to start the season.

On Sunday, Rutgers-Camden secured the championship with a 3-1 win over Greensboro in the first game. The Raptors took an early 1-0 lead on a successful penalty kick by Turgot Kilicoglu in the 17th minute and extended their advantage to 2-0 at the break on a Todd Kleinstuber score at the 32:48 mark. 

Greensboro cut the lead in half when Andrew Gunter booted home a Ben Norman free kick in the 69th minute.  RUC, however, effectively sealed the match and tournament championship with a score just over five minutes later by Matt Lanouette.

With second place up for grabs in the tourney finale, North Carolina Wesleyan got its offense going early with a goal by freshman Fred Achaempong just six minutes in.  The Bishops took their 1-0 lead into the break, but NCWC watched the Cougars knot the match at 1-1 less than four minute into the final period.

NCWC responded with three unanswered goals, the first of which came on an Ousman Sarr penalty kick in the 58th minute that proved to be the eventual game-winner. Edgar Zaldivar and Owen White scored the final two Bishop goals, respectively.  The two also assisted on the game’s first score, while Christopher Helms assisted on the last.

Wesleyan out-shot Kean 21-5 in the match.  Kean goalie Alfredo Oquendo notched seven saves and NCWC keeper Benjamin Kruk three.     

On Saturday, Greensboro and Kean opened the tournament with a 1-1 double overtime tie.  The Pride’s lone goal came in the 26th minute when Jared Friedman found Andrew Clark in the box for the game’s first score.  Greensboro had a chance to up its lead to 2-0 with a penalty kick later in the half, but Oquendo thwarted Bobby Dabbs’ attempt for a 1-0 GC lead at the half.

Kean tied the game with an unassisted goal by Andres Berriel less than three minutes into the second period.  It would be all the scoring the match would see as neither team could convert in overtime.

The Pride out-shot the Cougars 16-6, but Oquendo made seven stops on the afternoon.  GC’s Kurt Gardiner had three saves.

In the second game, Rutgers-Camden snapped Wesleyan’s 42-game regular season unbeaten streak that dated back to the 2005 season.  The Scarlet Raptors needed just one goal, and they got it from Andrew Dorsey in the 83rd minute when he touched home a Chase Komer pass from the left.

RUC out-shot the Bishops 10-7 in the contest.  Raptor goalie Tim VanLiew notched four saves, while NCWC freshman keeper Benjamin Kruk tallied five.

North Carolina Wesleyan returns to action next Saturday and Sunday at Greensboro’s Doug Hamilton Memorial Tournament.  The Bishops will take on Marymount University and Heidelberg College, respectively, with both games set to start at noon.

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