Box Score

Senior Night insert

 
Ewing, NJ … The College of New Jersey men's soccer team dropped its season finale to Rowan University 4-2 as their late-season run at a New Jersey Athletic Conference tournament berth came to a close.
 
The Lions (7-11, 3-6 NJAC) took a two-goal lead in the opening half, but four unanswered tallies by the visiting Profs (10-7-2, 4-4-1) dashed TCNJ's hopes of earning a spot in the post-season.
 
Senior Ray Nelan (Haddon Heights, NJ/Haddon Heights) and junior Tyler Higgins (Toms River, NJ/Toms River North) each scored for the Lions. Sophomore Kevin McCartney (Old Bridge, NJ/St. Joseph's) assisted on the first goal.
 
Senior Jared Mangone (Princeton, NJ/West Windsor North) scored two goals for Rowan, while Travis Cortes (Scotch Plains, NJ/Scotch Plains-Fanwood) netted a goal and an assist and Julian Berrios (Lakewood, NJ/Calvary Academy) added the final tally of the game.
 
The first half was a back-and-forth battle as the Lions jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Nelan scored just over two minutes into the contest. McCartney lofted a pass over the defensive line from just inside of midfield. Nelan beat his defender to the bouncing ball and hit a low shot into the left corner for his second goal of the season.
 
In the 20^th minute of play, Nelan possessed the ball on the right side above the box. He slid a pass across the middle that caromed out to Higgins. He promptly roped a shot from 25 yards out into the right pocket for his fourth goal in the last two games.
 
The Profs responded just over ten minutes later. Mangone hit a shot from 10 yards out that was stopped by Fredrick. The ball rebounded up in the air and Mangone headed it out of the air and into the net to cut the Lions lead in half.
 
Six minutes later, Cortes found the ball at his foot near the top left corner of the box. He fake left and bent a shot into the top right corner to tie the match at two goals apiece.
 
Mangone struck again early in the second period. He followed up a blocked shot and put away his third goal of the season for a 3-2 advantage. Berrios put the finishing touches on their tenth victory when he took a through ball from Cortes and deposited his third goal of the year.
 
Fredrick finished with two saves, and Prof keeper Mike Fanz-Huster (Waterford, NJ/Hammonton) had five saves for his seventh win. Rowan held the advantage in shots 17-15.
 
Note: TCNJ celebrated Senior Night during halftime of the game. Seven seniors were honored: goalkeeper Matt Fredrick (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape), defender Vince McEnroe (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough), defender Sean Cunneen (Landing, NJ/Roxbury), defender Andrew White (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape), defender Tyler Cignarella (Hopewell, NJ/Hopewell Valley), midfielder Kevin Shaw (Brookside, NJ/West Morris Mendham), and forward Ray Nelan (Haddon Heights, NJ/Haddon Heights).