Goals have been tough to come by in recent games, but the Roadrunner men's soccer team hopes they found some answers during Saturday's 4-3 victory over a solid Raritan Valley CC team in Region XIX action.

Up to the plate stepped midfielder Gemel Tutu (Vineland)who had his best outing of the season, scoring an early goal and assisting on another to spark the RCSJ Gloucester win. Tutu opened the scoring with an unassisted goal at the 8-minute mark of the first half.
He then helped the Runners (7-5-2) to a 2-0 lead moments later with an assist on a score by Anthony Macklin at 11:00 of the half. All told Tutu registered five shots, including three on goal.

"This was Gemel's best outing of the season," noted coach George Hobbins. "He had pressure throughout the game, and we needed the goals to beat Raritan Valley."

The Roadrunners needed additional help after the Lions tied the score at 2-2 on goals by Khari Sheppard in the first half and Chris Alverado in the second half. Sophomore Jake Fazi put the home team ahead in the second half with a goal assisted by midfielder Justin Phy (Triton)

The game winner? After Alverado notched his second goal for RVCC to knot the score at 3-3. Roadrunner standout Joe Niemiec (Sicklerville) continued his clutch season with his third game-winning score of the season, unassisted at 72:00. The defense, headed by back Tyler Liberkowski (Triton) helped hold off the visitors in the closing moments. 

But it was Tutu's offensive production that the Runners' coaching staff hopes will carry into the upcoming Region XIX playoffs.

"I've been working hard on finishing my plays and putting the ball in the back of the net," Tutu said. "My teammates have helped me all the way and hopefully we'll continue scoring goals."

Up next for the Roadrunners will be a rescheduled home match Monday vs. Bergen County Community College in a 3:30 start. The week continues with a home contest vs, Lackawanne College and road match vs. Montgomery County (PA) on Saturday.

Post-Game Interview with Joe Niemiec:

GAME DAY INFORMATION

RCSJ-Gloucester vs. Raritan Valley Community College
Saturday, October 12, 2019
12:00 PM

Hosted by:
Roadrunner Athletics
Deptford, NJ

Coaches:
George Hobbins, RCSJ Gloucester
Mark Malchow, Raritan Valley CC

Records:
RCSJ Gloucester (6-5-2, 4-3-1)
Raritan Valley CC (6-5-1, 2-5-1)

Watch Live at RCRoadrunners.com