Ewing, NJ... The College of New Jersey men's soccer team scored early in the second half and then made that goal stand up as the Lions collected a 1-0 win over Rutgers-Camden on Wednesday.
 
The game finished with a flourish as TCNJ protected that lead into the closing minutes when Rutgers-Camden was awarded a penalty kick after the Lions were whistled for a hand ball in the penalty area   with 1:13 left in regulation after the Lions denied a scoring chance.
 
Senior Grant Taylor (Mendham, NJ/West Morris-Mendham) took the kick for the Scarlet Raptors, but it hit the near post and TCNJ's defense eventually got the ball out of harm's way to lock up the team's first conference win of the season.
 
The win put the Lions at 7-4-2 overall and they are 1-4 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference. The loss put Rutgers-Camden at 4-2 in league play and 9-5-1 overall.
 
The lone goal of the game came 10:20 into the second half when junior Nick Costelloe (Freehold, NJ/Freehold Twp.) dribbled into the middle of the field and ripped a shot into the upper right corner from 25-yards out. That goal was his team-leading eighth of the season.
 
Rutgers-Camden had a chance to pull even with 13:58 left when Clayton Taylor (Mendham, NJ/West Morris-Mendham) put a shot from point-blank range high, setting the stage for the frantic finish.
 
The Scarlet Raptors had two of the better chances in the opening half with both of them coming off of the foot of senior Connor Hurff (Sewell, NJ/St. Augustine Prep). The first chance came 7:40 into the game as he touched a pass on goal that Lion keeper Jake Nesteruk (Doylestown, PA/Central Bucks East) smothered.
 
He was denied again later in the half when Nesteruk punched away a scoring bid in the final 15 minutes.
 
Freshman defender Joerg Jauk (Lassnitzhoehe, Austria) had both of TCNJ's best chances with headers that went high.
 
Nesteruk finished with a game-high six saves, while James Brett (Palmyra, NJ/Palmyra) collected three.
 
TCNJ continues conference play on Saturday, October 17 when they head to Ramapo College for a 1 p.m. start, while Rutgers-Camden hosts fifth-ranked Montclair State University at that same time.