Carlisle, Pa. ... The College of New Jersey men's soccer team opened the season with a convincing 5-1 victory over Dickinson College in the Elizabethtown Blue Jay Classic on Friday night.
 
The Lions (1-0) were opportunistic, scoring five goals on 12 shots to secure the win. Senior Jake Nesteruk (Doylestown, Pa/Central Bucks East) came up big in the first half, holding off an early rush by the Red Devils to allow his teammates time to get the ball rolling.
 
Four different players scored for TCNJ as they matched their 2015 season-high of five goals, which also came in their opening match last season.
 
Dickinson had the better of play early on and put four shots on net. Nesteruk denied each shot to keep the Red Devils off the board. At the 24:18 mark of the contest, senior Nick Costelloe (Freehold, NJ/Freehold Twp.) got an opening for his first shot of the season. He made it count as he rippled the back of the net off a feed from Nick Sample (New Egypt, NJ/New Egypt) to put TCNJ up 1-0.
 
The Lions maintained the momentum and later in the period, freshman Mateo Panizza (Randolph, NJ/Randolph) had the ball at his feet and sent a pass to sophomore Matt Skinner (Allentown, NJ/Allentown). Skinner converted for his first collegiate goal and pushed the lead to 2-0.
 
Just over 12 minutes after the intermission, senior Thomas Hogue (Ridgefield Park, NJ/Bergen Catholic) beat the keeper as Sample was credited with his second assist of the game. That goal turned out to be critical as the Red Devils got on the board in the 71^st minute when Will Bracken scored.
 
With the gap closed to 3-1, TCNJ extended the lead back to three scores when they were awarded a penalty kick. Sophomore Joerg Jauk (Lassnitzhoehe, Austria) converted and an own goal in the final minute of play sealed the 5-1 win.
 
Dickinson held an advantage in shots at 15-12 and Nesteruk finished with seven saves. Red Devil goalkeeper Jeremy Palcan recorded five stops.
 
TCNJ is back on the pitch tomorrow to square off against Elizabethtown College at 3:30 p.m.