EWING, N.J. – Despite a valiant comeback effort in the latter stages of the match, the TCNJ men's soccer team fell to Montclair State, 2-1.

The match began with the Red Hawks (8-1-2) putting on sustained pressure against the Lions (5-2-4). The Lions defense held strong for a while, limiting Montclair State's attack to very few threatening opportunities among their 6 shots. In the 39^th minute, however, Montclair State opened the scoring via a header into the bottom-right-hand corner of the goal. TCNJ created some chances on the counterattack, but the Lions were only able to draw one routine save from the Red Hawks' Pierre Soumeillant.

The beginning of the second half fared a bit better for the Lions, who were able to enjoy more possession than they were in the first 45 minutes. It was Montclair State, however, who struck again. A 60^th-minute penalty kick from Sebastian Lapczynski doubled the Red Hawks' lead.

After going down 2-0, TCNJ turned up the pressure, logging a flurry of shots until Matt Will cut the lead in half in the 80^th minute. John Ramos, who had earlier sent a shot just inches above the crossbar, passed it to Aidan Ayar on the right wing. Ayar placed a nice first-time ball into the stride of Will, who evaded a defender and charged into the right side of the penalty area. Will then fired a deflected shot at goal which looped over the Red Hawks' goalkeeper and into the net.

Right after Will's goal, the Red Hawks responded with their own spell of pressure. TCNJ's Sean Najdzinowicz made a pair of fantastic saves to keep the deficit at just one. Najdzinowicz logged a career-high 7 saves in the match, nearly doubling his season and career total. The Lions attack also drove forward into the attacking third on a number of occasions in the final stages of the game. In the end, however, the Lions' comeback bid fell short, and the final score was 2-1 in favor of Montclair State.

TCNJ now turns to their attention to Tuesday, October 7 for their next match – an away contest at Haverford in the last non-conference game of the year.