Camden, NJ … The College of New Jersey men's soccer team dropped a 4-1 decision to top-seeded Rutgers University-Camden in the semi-final round of the New Jersey Athletic Conference championship tournament on Wednesday night at Rutgers-Camden Community Park.

The loss eliminates the Lions from the playoffs as their record now stands at 12-6-2. The fourth-ranked Scarlet Raptors remained unbeaten, pushing their season mark to 18-0-2. They advance to the championship game this Saturday and will host the winner of the Montclair State/Rutgers-Newark match.

TCNJ will await word from the NCAA Selection Committee on Monday as to whether they receive an at-large bid into the tournament. The Lions are currently ranked fifth in the South Atlantic Region.

Rutgers-Camden scored a pair of first-half goals and tacked on two more as four different players registered tallies.

Junior Kevin McCartney (Old Bridge, NJ/St. Joseph's) scored late in the game for the Lions off an assist from senior Kevin Shaw (Brookside, NJ/West Morris Mendham).

With just over 20 minutes remaining in the opening period, senior Aaron Utman (Hopewell, NJ/Hopewell Valley) dove to his left to make a save on a hard, low shot. On the ensuing corner kick, Keegan Balle knocked in a loose ball from six yards out to give the Scarlet Raptors a 1-0 lead.

Connor Hurff gave Rutgers-Camden a two-goal advantage when he ripped a left-footed shot into the right pocket with 11:33 to play in the first half. The Lions put pressure on in the final ten minutes, but came away empty.

Jake Dowiak scored with 10:08 remaining in the game before sophomore Mike Ryan netted his 19^th goal of the season to ice the game for the Scarlet Raptors.

Utman made several exceptional stops in the game and finished with five saves. Mike Randall also registered six saves in the match.

Shaw, senior Sean Casey (Toms River, NJ/Toms River) and freshman Sean Etheridge (Oakland, NJ/Ramapo) each got off three shots as the Lions held a 17-14 advantage in the game.