Box Score

NEWARK, NJ (September 29, 2007) - Sophomore defender Anthony Starpoli (Raritan, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan HS) headed in a short-handed goal in the 71st minute to lift The College of New Jersey to a 3-2 New Jersey Athletic Conference men's soccer victory over Rutgers-Newark on Alumni Field.

The late goal staved off an upset bid by the Scarlet Raiders (5-4-1, NJAC 0-3-0) who rallied from a 2-0 deficit as the Lions (7-1-3, NJAC 3-0-2) scored on their first two shots of the match in the opening minutes.

Starpoli headed the ball inside the near post off a restart kick off the foot of sophomore forward Kevin Luber (Delran, NJ/Delran) from the right side.

Senior midfielder Craig Langan (Kings Park, NY/Kings Park) putaway a cross to the right side of the box from senior forward Nima Rahimi (Wharton, NJ/Morris Hills) just 45 seconds into the contest. Forty-nine seconds later, sophomore midfielder Matt Erny (Delran, NJ/Delran) punched a cross inside the right post on a restart kick feed from senior midfielder Joseph McGinley (Cranford, NJ/Cranford), and it looked like the Lions were in control.

But, junior forward Joe Caamano (Linden, NJ/Linden) scored on a breakaway run down the left side on a through pass from freshman midfielder Estiven Benetiz (Warren, NJ/Watchung Hills) to make it 2-1 at the half.

Freshman forward Christien Vlahinich (Montvale, NJ/St. Joseph's Regional) knotted the score on header of a restart kick by freshman defender Kofi Agyemang (Union, NJ/St. Benedict's) in the 57th minute.

Erny was sent off with two yellow cards in the 40th minute.

Senior goalkeeper Steve Scutellaro (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) made three saves to post the win and improve his personal record to 3-0-3 while freshman keeper Jonathan Frances (Chandler, AZ/Hamilton) had two saves in a losing cause.

Rutgers-Newark plays a non-conference match at FDU-Florham at 3:30 p.m. on Monday while TCNJ will host Drew at 3 o'clock on Wednesday.