Four wins on the bounce has the Rowan men’s soccer team feeling confident entering their final three games of the regular season. After starting 2-2, the Profs have since won eight of their last 10 games.
Rowan’s next opponent is at home Wednesday night against Rutgers-Camden. The Profs have only lost one game this season at home. Rutgers-Camden currently sits in second place on the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) standings, one point ahead of Rowan. Rutgers-Camden is unbeaten in their last nine games, eight of which they have won.
Rowan has the slightly “easier” end to the season. After Wednesday nights game, they host sixth place Ramapo and then travel to seventh place TCNJ.
Rutgers-Camden hosts fourth-place William Paterson and then go on the road against fifth place Stockton.
Luckily, the Profs’ offense has been nothing short of on point lately. Most importantly, they are finally healthy.
“In our last three conference games we have scored 14 goals and conceded zero,” said head coach Scott Baker said. “At this point it’s much more than just being healthy and getting guys back. The guys are playing really well and it’s at a really important part of the season so it’s really exciting for us.”
Injuries were a big problem at the beginning of the season for the brown and gold. However, these last few weeks have shown that they are a much dangerous team when they are at full strength.
Montclair State seems to have the regular season title locked up. They control their own destiny in that regard, leading Rutgers-Camden by six points and Rowan by seven.
“If we play well to finish the season, I believe we will finish second,” Baker said. “We have talked all year about finishing strong unlike we did last year.”
The Profs have great veteran leadership, as they hold seven seniors on the roster.
“Us seniors have had a lot of group talks and one-on-one talks,” said senior captain Will Sjaastad. “We have all played together for four years now. There’s obviously a lot more emotion coming into these final regular season games and the postseason. We’ve carried that over into practices also. We’re trying to enjoy every moment while it’s here.”
The end of the NJAC regular season promises to be filled with drama coming down to the final game before the conference tournament begins.
Drama came Wednesday against Rutgers-Camden, as both teams stood at a scoreless lock until Ryan Campbell put Rowan on the board the 74-minute mark. The Scarlet Raptors evened it up four minutes later and the two were stuck at 1-1 going into overtime. Five minutes in, the Profs were granted a Rutgers-Camden own goal to get the 2-1 win and move to 11-4 and 5-2 in the NJAC.
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