Glassboro, NJ ... The College of New Jersey women's soccer team suffered a 1-0 setback at Rowan University on Thursday night in Glassoboro, NJ.

The loss was the first this season in the New Jersey Athletic Conference as the Lions (11-2-4, 6-1-2 NJAC). They finished second overall in the conference standings and will receive a bye in the opening round of the NJAC championship tournament. TCNJ will host the winner of the #6 Rutgers-Newark/#3 Montclair State University game on Tuesday night at 7:30 in Lions Stadium. The Scarlet Raiders and Red Hawks square off in Montclair, NJ this Saturday.

The victory propelled Rowan to the regular season title. The Profs (11-2-2, 6-1-2 NJAC) will have home field advantage throughout the playoffs and play the winner of the #5 Richard Stockton/#4 Kean University match.

The Profs came out firing in the opening period, forcing Lions' goalkeeper Jessica Weeder (Lebanon, NJ/North Hunterdon) to make a save just 2:02 into the match. Rowan forward Lisa Cella followed with a shot off the crossbar two minutes later, and at the 7:36 mark, Melissa Kelly deposited a shot in the lower left-hand corner to give the host a 1-0 lead.

That quickly awakened the Lions as they rattled off six straight shots over the next 15 minutes. Sophomore Elizabeth Thoresen (Colts Neck, NJ/Red Bank Catholic) ripped a shot off the crossbar in the 29th minute that nearly tied the match. TCNJ kept the pressure on minutes later as a header from Marissa Scognamiglio (Orangeburg, NY/Pearl River) sailed wide before a shot by Sarah Marion (Hightstown, NJ/Peddie) was stopped by Prof keeper Shelbey Money.

The scored remained 1-0 at the half and through the second period. TCNJ has one last shot at getting the equalizer with les than five minutes play as Lauren Malajian (Haworth, NJ/Northern Valley) fired a shot on net, but Kelly was there to make the save. Kelly finished with seven saves on 14 shots faced. Weeder stopped three shots on net by the Profs.

The winner of the conference championship tournament earns an automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Division III Championships.