EWING, N.J. – If the TCNJ men's soccer team had any nerves before hosting its first NJAC playoff game in over a decade, Matias Hornos made sure to assuage them quickly.
 
Hornos gave the home side a first-minute lead with a wonder goal and Matt Will added another first-half tally as the fourth-seeded Lions (10-4-5) rode their clinical finishing to advance to the NJAC semifinals with a 5-1 victory over fifth-seeded Rutgers-Camden on a chilly Saturday night from Ewing.
 
With the victory, its first in the conference playoffs since 2016, TCNJ set up a semifinal showdown at top-seeded Montclair State next Wednesday night, when the Lions will hunt their first NJAC championship game appearance since 2010. Massimo Rodio, Aidan Ayar, and Nathan Lipton all added second-half markers for TCNJ.
 
The crowd hardly had time to settle into their seats before Hornos stunned the Scarlet Raptors with a world-class goal, ripping a right-footed thunderbolt into the top right corner from 25 yards out to stake the Lions to a lightning-quick 1-0 lead just 16 seconds after opening kickoff.
 
Already chasing a goal, Rutgers-Camden (7-8-4) fired off five shots over a span of less than two minutes, but none troubled Sean Najdzinowicz as TCNJ defenders managed to block every one of them.
 
That changed later in the half, when the visitors nearly capitalized on a giveaway in the 17^th minute before Najdzinowicz rushed out and dove low to his right to palm away a goal-bound shot by Nik Grello.
 
Against the run of play, the Lions doubled their lead with a set piece strike in the 20^th minute. Aidan Grund sent in an in-swinging corner that was headed up into the air by Manny Thacher, and Will was there to send a leaping header back and into the netting.
 
Najdzinowicz was called into action again just minutes later, diving low and to his left to parry away a strong free kick around the defensive wall from just outside the box. The rookie made another reflex save to stone Tommy Monaghan at close range late in the first half, after which TCNJ faced a 16-3 deficiency in shots but owned a 2-0 lead where it counted.
 
Under relentless pressure, the Lions' defenses finally broke in the 55^th minute, when Dylan Pino took a cross in the left side of the box and bounced a left-footed shot into the low right corner of the net to cut TCNJ's advantage to 2-1.
 
With Camden briefly down to 10 men due to an injury, TCNJ restored its multi-goal spread right away. Less than four minutes later, Rodio sent a long ball towards the goal, and an on-rushing Will may have distracted the Scarlet Raptor goalie enough for the ball to bounce right past him and into the back of the net for a crucial insurance tally in the 59^th minute.
 
The chaos continued a few minutes later, when Will deftly headed a goal-bound header off the line off a Camden corner to keep TCNJ in front by two.
 
Ayar cashed in on the other end in the 68^th minute, when J.J. Zaun intercepted a long punt by the goalie and passed ahead for Meder, whose left-footed pass perfectly set up Ayar for a quick finish and a 4-1 lead.
 
Lipton provided the exclamation point in the 88^th minute, taking a pass from Julien DeLorenzo and ripping a shot off the left post and in.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Rutgers-Camden finished with a 31-12 advantage in shots and had nine corners to the Lions' two
• TCNJ was relentless defensively, blocking a whopping 10 shots in the first half and 16 for the night
• Nik Grello led all players with seven shots, with Dylan Pino adding six and Jason Angel and Tommy Monaghan supplying five each

STANDOUT LIONS

• Hornos' stunner was the 10^th goal of his career
• Will scored for the fourth time in five outings and matched Meder for the team lead with nine goals
• Meder's two assists gave him 11 for the year, tied for the fourth-highest single-season total in program history; his 15 career helpers are good for a tie for 14^th all-time
• Will paced the pride with four shots in addition to his massive goal-line clearance on the defensive end
• Thacher and Zaun each posted their second assist of the year; for Zaun it was the fourth of his career
• DeLorenzo recorded his first career point with the late assist
• Najdzinowicz finished with six saves

NOTES

• The victory was the Lions' first conference tournament win since a 2-1 OT thriller at Stockton in 2016
• TCNJ had not hosted a playoff game since 2013
• TCNJ has now won 10 games for the first time since 2019; the Lions have posted more than 10 victories in a single season just once (2013) since 2005
• The result upheld a decades-long stretch of dominance by the home side in this series; the Lions are 12-1-4 all-time at home against Rutgers-Camden, and have not lost on home turf to the Scarlet Raptors since 2003
• Now having combined for 100 starts between them, seniors Zaun (57) and Rodio (43) finally got their first chance to play in the postseason

UP NEXT

• The Lions will travel to 17^th-ranked Montclair State on Wednesday, with kickoff set for 7 p.m.