NEWARK, NJ – Sophomore forward Jeff Vazquez (New Milford, NJ/New Milford HS) registered a hat trick to lead Rutgers-Newark to a 6-1 win over Baruch in the opening round of the ECAC Metro Championship on Alumni Field.
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NCAA Box Score & Play-by-Play
Vazquez equaled the school single-season record for goals while lifting the Raiders to the first post-season win in program history. He tallied what proved to be the game-winning goal in the 12th minute to give R-N a 2-0 lead, then sparked a four-goal second half by the Raiders by scoring in the 71st and 87th minutes. He tied R-N Athletic Hall of Famer Danny Lopes’ 1994 record of 16 goals. Vazquez needed 19 games to match Lopes’ 16-match total.
Third-seeded Rutgers-Newark (10-9-0) hosts #2 New Jersey City (11-5-3) on Alumni Field at 1 p.m. on Saturday in the semifinals. The Gothic Knights blanked Mount St. Mary (10-10-0) while Farmingdale State (13-7-1) downed Centenary (10-10-1), 3-2 in overtime, in the other opening round matches. Farmingdale State will face top-seeded William Paterson (13-5-2) on Saturday. The Pioneers drew a first-round bye in the tournament. Baruch finished its season with a 7-5-5 ledger.
Sophomore goalkeeper Kyle Perdelwitz (West Orange, NJ/West Orange) needed just two saves to up his personal record to 8-9-0 as R-N outshot the Bearcats 20-6.
Bearcat midfielder Daniel Ospina, who was named the CUNYAC Rookie of the Year earlier in the day, fired in an unassisted goal over Perdewitz into the opposite top corner in the 15th minute to trim the Raider lead to 2-1 at the half.
Sophomore midfielder Robert Campos (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) assisted on Vazquez's first and last tallies, while freshman forward Tom King (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East) also had a pair of assists.
Sophomore forward Innocent Buule (West New York, NJ/Memorial) registered the game's opening goal in the fifth minute and added and assist to help open the second-half explosion. Buule putaway a cross from the right side from King to break the ice after freshman midfielder Jorge Garcia (Union, NJ/St. Benedict's) roped a through pass from midfield to King as he sprinted to the right corner.
Sophomore forward Christien Vlahinich (Montvale, NJ/St. Joseph's Regional) started an ended a quick flurry which delivered the first goal of the second half. Vlahinich fired a shot off diving Bearcat goalkeeper Nelson DiBastiano before Buule followed with another point-blank attempt in the box that DiBastiano somehow managed to block before Vlahinich ended the drama with a third shot past the prostrate junior keeper. DiBastiano yielded four goals and made three saves in 75 minutes before giving way to freshman Michael Murphy.
After Vazquez scored his second goal off of a nifty cross to the left side of the box from King in the 71st minute, freshman forward Richie Villamar (Paterson, NJ/Paramus Catholic) deposited a penalty kick into the left side in the 82nd minute to make it 5-1.
Vazquez closed out the scoring, putting a shot into the right side of the net after taking a cross from the right side by Campos in the 87th minute.
It was the Raiders’ first win in three trips to the ECAC Championship. R-N fell in the opening round to Rowan in 1989 and to Merchant Marine in 1996.
