Ewing, NJ …The College of New Jersey men's soccer team battled its way to a much-needed victory as they defeated Richard Stockton College 2-1 in a New Jersey Athletic Conference match on Wednesday night in Lions' Stadium.
 
The win evened the Lions record at 4-4 on the season and 1-1 in conference play. The loss dropped the Ospreys to 3-3-1 overall and 1-1 in the NJAC.
 
Trailing by a goal in the second period, junior Kevin Shaw (Brookside, NJ/West Morris Mendham) put the offense on his back, netting the tying and game-winning goals in a span of less than four minutes. Freshman Jordan Kayal (Mahwah, NJ/Mahwah) and senior Vince McEnroe (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough) assisted on the goals.
 
Freshman Maciej Libucha (Woodland Park, NJ/Pass (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) registered his third win of the season, making three saves in the game.
 
The Lions played with energy in the opening period, mixing up short feeds with long aerial passes in an attempt to penetrate the Osprey defense. The defensive unit for Richard Stockton did its job to keep TCNJ off the board. Freshman Greg Perri (Florence, NJ/Florence) sent a header off a corner kick just wide of the pipes for the team's best scoring chance of the opening 45 minutes.
 
The Ospreys took command just over four minutes into the second half. Junior Chris Katona (Howell, NJ/Howell) took a feed from behind from sophomore Matt Jenne (Kinnelon, NJ/Kinnelon) and promptly flicked a shot over the outstretched arms of Libucha into the right pocket to give the Ospreys a 1-0 advantage. It was his team-leading sixth goal of the season.
 
TCNJ responded less than one minute later. Shaw took a pass from Kayal just outside of the box on the right side. He beat his defender and drilled a low shot into the left-hand corner to the tie the match.
 
Shaw continued to pour on the pressure as ripped another shot attempt from 20 yards out that forced Stockton goalkeeper Bob Millar (Cream Ridge, NJ/Allentown) to dive to his right to make the save. Less than two mintutes later, the Lions were awarded a direct kick in the right corner. McEnroe delivered a ground pass that Shaw hammered first-time into the top right corner at the 53:36 mark for his sixth goal of the season.
 
His second tally would prove to be the game-winner as the Lions controlled the better part of play in the second half, outshooting the Ospreys 17-9 overall in the game. Millar had had seven saves on the night for Richard Stockton.
 
TCNJ returns to the pitch tomorrow when they host FDU-Florham University in a non-conference match in Lions' Stadium at 7:30 p.m. The Devils are currently 4-4 this season. Richard Stockton College will host William Paterson Univeristy on Saturady, September 22 at 1 p.m.