Ewing, NJ... The College of New Jersey men's soccer team remained right in the thick of the conference playoff race as the Lions recorded their fourth straight victory with a 4-3 triumph over William Paterson University on Saturday.
 
The win put TCNJ at 4-4 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference going into the season finale at Rowan University on Wednesday. A win over the Profs would clinch a berth in the tournament for the Lions. Overall, TCNJ is 10-4-2.
 
The loss dropped the Pioneers to 5-9-2 overall and 1-6-1 in the league standings.
 
The game also marked the final home contest for six Lion seniors. Recognized in a brief ceremony at halftime were Mathew Ziegler (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick), Dan McMillan (Fanwood, NJ/Scotch Plains-Fanwood), Greg Kaye (Morganville, NJ/Marlboro), Jordan Kayal (Mahwah, NJ/Mahwah), Andrew Kimball (Seaville, NJ/Ocean City) and Mike Schiumo (Sparta, NJ/Sparta).
 
It was one of those seniors that opened the scoring as Kimball picked up his first career goal 3:52 into the game with an assist from defender Joerg Jauk (Lassnitzhoehe, Austria).
 
The Pioneers tied the game late in the opening half, but TCNJ scored three times in the opening 17 minutes of the new period to get control.
 
Junior Nick Costelloe (Freehold, NJ/Freehold Twp.) netted the first two before Nick Provenzano (Stockton, NJ/Hunterdon Central) pushed the lead to 4-1.
 
William Paterson closed the gap with two goals, but the Lions held on to keep their playoff hopes alive.
 
Lion keeper Jake Nesteruk (Doylestown, PA/Central Bucks East) earned the win with a pair of saves.