EWING, N.J. – Two goals early in the first half – one from senior
Daniel Grund – set the TCNJ men's soccer team on the path to a massive 3-1 NJAC victory over visiting New Jersey City on Senior Night.
Matias Hornos and
Chris Meder each paired a goal with an assist for the Lions (2-10-5, 2-3-2), who pulled into a tie with Kean for the sixth and final playoff spot with two games remaining.
Mike Garofalo,
Julien Carraha,
Ryan Phillips, and
Colin Rentner joined Grund in the starting lineup after being honored in a pregame ceremony.
The Lions came out flying, going on top just five minutes in as Hornos took a long pass from
J.J. Zaun and used a series of moves to get free for a right-footed shot that zipped into the back of the net.
TCNJ doubled the spread with a sensational sequence of tic-tac-toe passing. Hornos passed into the box for
Chris Meder, who settled the ball down for Grund to fire into the right side of the netting.
Rentner had his moment on Senior Night midway through the first half, coming off his line to stone a breakaway attempt and keep the Gothic Knights off the board.
NJCU (6-8-3, 0-7) pulled one back in the 57
th minute on a rebound off a Rentner save, but TCNJ restored a multi-goal spread in the 75
th as
John Ramos sprung Meder on a breakaway with a long through ball, and Meder dribbled around the on-rushing Gothic Knights keeper and scored into an empty net.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- TCNJ held a 20-17 edge in shots, putting seven on goal to NJCU's six
- The Lions had three corners to one for the visitors
- Meder paced the hosts with six shots
- Pablo Argueta added four shots, while Hornos, Massimo Rodio, and Phillips registered two apiece
- Rentner finished with five saves in his second win of the season
NOTES
- Meder has an assist in two straight games and three for his career
- Hornos has scored in three of his last four games, two of which have featured both a goal and an assist
- Grund's goal was his second game-winner of the season, the other a last-minute marker in a 1-0 win at Kean last month
- Ramos' assist marked his first career point
UP NEXT
- The Lions head to William Paterson on Saturday
