College Cross Country: Raptor of the Week: Travis Stewart Monday, November 6, 2006 By Mike Ballard RutgersCamden Sports Correspondent RAPTOR OF THE WEEK Travis Stewart (Runnemede, NJ/Triton Regional) Sophomore Travis Stewart completed a Raptor of the Week hat trick, notching his third honor of the fall season after a spectacular performance at the ECAC Cross Country Championships Nov. 4. Stewart finished 12th out of 281 runners with his second-fastest clocking of the fall, running the 8K race in 26:50. It is the ninth-fastest time in program history. Stewart also earned Raptor of the Week on Oct. 16 and shared the honor with teammate Jonathan Salamon on Oct. 28. MEN’S SOCCER (10-4-6 overall/5-2-2 NJAC) October NJAC Championships Tues. 31 Semifinals New Jersey City 1,Rutgers-Camden 1 (NJCU advances on penalty kicks, 4-1) Montclair State 3, Kean 0 November Fri. 3 Championship Montclair State 2, New Jersey City University 1 (2 OT) Upcoming games ECAC Championships TBA If the Rutgers University-Camden men’s soccer team ends up playing another game this season, it will be in the ECAC Championships, not in the NCAA tournament. The Scarlet Raptors, who were seeded second in the New Jersey Athletic Conference playoffs, were ousted from the tournament without losing, as they played to a 1-1 tie with New Jersey City University in a double-overtime thriller Oct. 31 in Camden. Since a team needed to advance to the NJAC title game, the survivor was decided on a penalty kick tie-breaker, with each team alternating five penalty kicks. The Gothic Knights decided the issue in four kicks as they toppled the Raptors, 4-1. The game is officially recorded as a tie for NCAA purposes, but left the Scarlet Raptors hoping for a post-season berth through the ECAC tournament when that field is announced later today. NJCU, meanwhile, lost the championship game at Montclair State Nov. 3, 2-1, in the second overtime. In the marathon against the Gothic Knights, NJCU junior goalkeeper Bruce Neves made saves on a pair of shots during the penalty kick shootout and the Gothic Knights converted all four of their PK opportunities to outlast the Scarlet Raptors. In the penalty kick shootout, the Gothic Knights’ sophomore Cristhian Acuna and the Scarlet Raptors’ sophomore Andrew Dorsey (Mt. Laurel, NJ/The King’s Christian School) each converted their penalty kicks by tucking shots inside the left post. After NJCU freshman Frank Rosenthal drilled another shot inside the left post past Raptor senior keeper David Cunningham (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern Regional), Neves made a diving block toward the right post on a shot by the Raptors’ junior Pat Baldiserra (Milmay, NJ/Buena Regional). The Gothic Knights’ sophomore Jonathan Bilbao hit his penalty kick into the right side of the net, but Neves once again saved a Raptor shot, this time by sophomore A.J. O’Malley (Westmont, NJ/Haddon Township). With the Gothic Knights leading, 3-1, on penalty kicks, NJCU needed only one more shot to advance to the title game, and senior Juan Zuniga buried his penalty kick to the left side to end the semifinal marathon. In the other semifinal, No. 1 Montclair State University blanked No. 4 Kean, 3-0. The officially-recorded tie in the NJAC semifinal game left Rutgers-Camden with a 10-4-6 record on the season, including a 3-2-4 mark against teams which have appeared in the Top 25 this season. NJCU, which was ranked No. 24 in the d3kicks.com Top 25 poll, had dropped a 3-2 decision against the Raptors in Jersey City Oct. 25. NJCU controlled the game during most of the early going. The Gothic Knights finished with a 26-10 advantage in shots and a 9-4 edge in corner kicks. Rutgers-Camden had plenty of chances late in the contest, however, as the two teams demonstrated why the NJAC is one of the top Division III men’s soccer conferences in the country. The Gothic Knights broke the scoring ice at 55:34 after sophomore midfielder Edison Bilbau took advantage of a giveaway in the Raptors’ defensive third. He slotted a through ball to the left side of the box for sophomore Jamel Carson, who scored his seventh goal of the season. Rutgers-Camden tied the game at 71:34 on a high shot into the right side of the net by junior midfielder Onur Yilmaz (Delran, NJ/Delran). He was fed by Baldiserra, who notched his 10th assist of the year, becoming only the fourth player in program history with 10 or more assists. He now has 21 in his career, moving into second place on the program list, seven behind record-holder Mike Zeno (1992-95). Both Cunningham and Neves made seven saves during the game. Neves added the two blocked penalty kicks to help send his team to the title game. CROSS COUNTRY November Nov. 4 at ECAC Cross Country Championships (at Mt. Greylock High School, Williamstown, MA) MEN (8K): 1. Williams, 31; 2. The College of New Jersey, 88; 3. Amherst, 126; 4. Oneonta, 144; 5. St. Vincent (PA), 145; 6. Vassar, 158; 7. Wesleyan, 186; 8. Tufts, 231; 9. Middlebury, 269; 10. Rutgers-Camden, 381; 11. Southern Maine, 383; 12. Keene State, 400; 13. Bates, 409; 14. Colby, 425; 15. Babson, 497; 16. Coast Guard, 551; 17. US Merchant Marine, 562; 18. Bard, 567; 19. Castleton State, 578; 20. Springfield, 591; 21. SUNYIT, 592; 22. Johnson & Wales, 611; 23. Keystone, 614; 24. Hobart, 626; 25. Westfield State, 707; 26. WPI, 728; 27. Roger Williams, 774; 28. St. Joseph’s (ME), 833; 29. RIC, 851; 30. New Paltz State, 864; 31. Cazenovia, 871; 32. Newbury, 917; 33. St. Joseph’s (NY), 935; 34. U. of New England, 979; 35. Suffolk, 1,040; 36. Maritime (NY), 1,067; 37. MCLA, 1,075; 38. Salem State, 1,125; 39. Southern Vermont, 1,190; 40. Framingham State, 1,213. Leading runner: Colin Sanders (Vassar), 26:06 Leading Rutgers-Camden runner: Travis Stewart, 26:50 WOMEN (6K): 1. Amherst, 37; 2. Coast Guard, 50; 3. Williams, 63; 4. Middlebury, 129; 5. The College of New Jersey, 154; 6. Tufts, 169; 7. Vassar, 208; 8. Colby, 250; 9. Conn College, 251; 10. St. Vincent (PA), 311; 11. Bates, 329; 12. Ramapo, 431; 13. U. of New England, 461; 14. Bard, 499; 15. Oneonta, 535; 16. New Paltz St., 538; 17. Babson, 552; 18. William Smith, 560; 19. Springfield, 596; 20. Castleton State, 602; 21. Johnson & Wales, 625; 22. St. Joseph’s (ME), 659; 23. UMass-Dartmouth, 688; 24. St. Joseph’s (LI), 689; 25. Roger Williams 709; 26. Keystone, 721; 27. Westfield State, 734; 28. WPI, 751; 29. Salem State, 760; 30. Baruch, 819; 31. Elms, 880; 32. Framingham State, 886; 33. Salve Regina, 951; 34. RIC, 1,011; 35. Southern Vermont, 1,066. Inc. Team: Rutgers-Camden Leading runner: Caitlin Quinn (Coast Guard), 22:57 Leading Rutgers-Camden runner: Rachel McCormick, 32:09 Upcoming meets November Sat. 18 NCAA Atlantic Regionals (Men’s team only) (at SUNY-Geneseo) Sophomore Travis Stewart (Runnemede, NJ/Triton Regional) ran the seventh-fastest 8K time in Rutgers University-Camden cross country history and finished 12th out of 281 runners at the ECAC Cross Country Championships Nov. 4 in Williamstown, Mass. The event, hosted by Williams College, was held at Mt. Greylock High School. Stewart’s time of 26:50 was his second-fastest clocking of the season, behind the 26:31.10 he ran at the Oct. 28 New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships. It helped the Scarlet Raptors finish 10th out of 40 teams. Rutgers-Camden collected 381 points to finish two points ahead of 11th-place Southern Maine. The host school, Williams College, successfully defended its ECAC championship with 31 points and Colin Sanders of Vassar was the individual winner with a time of 26:06. On the women’s side, Amherst College had 37 points to win the 35-team race. Rutgers-Camden had an incomplete team, running only three runners, with senior Rachel McCormick (Blue Anchor, NJ/Winslow Township) leading the team with a 32:09 clocking over 6K. She finished 225th out of 242 runners in the race won by Coast Guard’s Caitlin Quinn (22:57). Freshman Jonathan Salamon (Bridgewater, NJ/St. Joseph-Metuchen) finished second for the Rutgers-Camden men and 45th overall with a time of 27:41, followed by sophomore G. Brandon Gordon (Haddon Township, NJ/Haddon Township), who posted a time of 28:42 to finish 99th. He was followed by freshmen Akeem Lloyd (Atlantic City, NJ/Atlantic City), who ran a 28:56, and Frank Iwanicki (Edgewater Park, NJ/Holy Cross), who ran a 29:02. They finished 111th and 118th, respectively. The Raptors’ sophomore Darryl Mendillo (Galloway, NJ/Absegami) finished 231st (32:17), followed immediately by sophomore Stefon Coleman (Penns Grove, NJ/Penns Grove), who was 232nd (32:22). Other competitors for the Lady Raptors included junior Jessica Hull (Sicklerville, NJ/Fairton Christian Center and Academy) and freshman Rebecca Taylor (Haddon Heights, NJ/Haddon Heights). Hull finished 229th (32:45) and Taylor was 239th (38:35). WOMEN’S SOCCER (10-8-1 overall/3-6 NJAC) Upcoming games ECAC Championships TBA Like the Rutgers-Camden men, the Lady Raptors are awaiting word to see if they will extend their soccer season with a berth in the ECAC Championships. The Raptors, whose last game was Oct. 25, will find out if they will play again when the ECAC field is announced Monday, Nov. 6.