EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ men's soccer team continued its season-opening unbeaten streak with a 3-0 defeat of visiting Keystone on Wednesday night.
 
John Ramos netted his first collegiate goal for the Lions (5-0-3), who are unbeaten through eight games for the first time since the 1995 Trenton State squad went nine in a row without a loss. Lawrence Mancino and Lucas Sample also hit the back of the net for TCNJ, which got a pair of assists from rookie Tyler Borenstein in their latest shutout effort.
 
The Lions controlled the flow of play from the opening kick, but found little in the way of promising chances for all of their possession.
 
The opening finally came on a set piece, when Mancino rose above everyone to head home a perfectly placed free kick from Borenstein, staking the blue and gold to a 1-0 advantage in the 34^th minute.
 
The Lions sealed the proceedings with two quick-fire goals in a span of less than five minutes early in the second half. The first of them came courtesy of another set piece, this time an outswinging corner from Aidan Grund that found the head of Sample in the 52^nd minute.
 
Ramos put a bow on it with a screamer from 25 yards out, receiving a pass from Borenstein and taking a few dribbles before unleashing a right-footed shot into the top left corner of the netting to provide the final score.
 
The Giants got off one final shot in the 83^rd minute, but TCNJ easily managed to see out its fifth shutout of the season.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• TCNJ racked up 26 shots and 19 corner kicks while conceding just three off-target efforts to Keystone

STANDOUT LIONS

• Sample (five shots) and Ramos (four) each put three shots on goal, and Ramos was the lone Lion field player to play all 90 minutes
• Mancino's opener marked his second goal of the season
• Borenstein's helpers were the first points of his collegiate career
• Carson Dodd did not need to make a save to earn his fourth shutout in as many appearances to start his career

NOTES

• The Lions' 19 corners are the team's highest single-game total since at least 2003, before which the per-game data is no longer readily available
• TCNJ has posted a clean sheet in each of its four home games this season
• Sample made his first start of the season
• Ray Frost made his season debut, while Julien DeLorenzo, Brett Lockburner, Ryan Super, and Ernest Uche all saw their second appearance of the campaign

UP NEXT

• The Lions stay home to face Kean in Saturday's NJAC opener, set for an 11 a.m. kickoff on Alumni Day