Rutgers-Camden plays to 0-0 tie
at No. 19 Franklin & Marshall

LANCASTER, Penn. (Oct. 18, 2006)  – The Rutgers University-Camden men’s soccer team faced one of its toughest tests of the season in a non-conference game here Wednesday.

Battling a team that hasn’t lost since opening day and was ranked No. 19 nationally, the Scarlet Raptors played to a 0-0 tie in double overtime against the Franklin & Marshall College Diplomats.

Rutgers-Camden stands at 9-4-4, while Franklin & Marshall is 11-1-2. The Diplomats, who moved up to 19th nationally in the NSCAA/adidas Division III Top 25 released Tuesday, haven’t lost since a 2-1 setback against Elizabethtown College in their season opener Sept. 6. The only other blemish on their record before Wednesday was a 1-1 tie against Muhlenberg Sept. 27. Since then they had rattled off five straight wins, including four by shutout margins, while outscoring their opponents, 13-1.

Rutgers-Camden, however, held the high-powered Diplomats in check to notch its eighth team shutout of the season. Senior goalie David Cunningham (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern Regional) collected five saves as he raised his record to 7-2-4. It was his fourth individual shutout of the year.

Franklin & Marshall was the eighth team on the Scarlet Raptors’ 2006 schedule which has been ranked in either the NSCAA/adidas Top 25 or the d3kicks.com Top 25 poll at points during this season. The Raptors have gone 2-2-2 against the first six and close the season with road games at the other two teams, New Jersey Athletic Conference rivals Ramapo College and New Jersey City University, Saturday and Wednesday, respectively. They travel to Ramapo, which has been ranked as high as No. 11 nationally in the d3kicks.com poll, for a 1 p.m. game this weekend.

The Diplomats, who received seven votes toward the d3kicks.com poll this week, held a 14-7 advantage in shots.

Franklin & Marshall senior goalie Ed Stelz (Washingtonville, NY/Loomis Chaffee, CT) made two saves to record his shutout.
Cunningham’s tie extended his Rutgers-Camden career goalie record to 11 ties. He also owns a school-record 31 wins.