EWING, N.J. – It was absolute chaos in the first match of the 2025 NJAC men's soccer season between TCNJ and Kean, and the points were shared after 90 minutes on Alumni Day.

The first minute of the match was almost catastrophic for the Cougars (1-7-2), as Kean's Ahad Shabazz-Henry took down TCNJ's Chris Meder as he was through on goal. The referee blew the whistle for a free kick on the edge of the penalty area, but inexplicably showed only a yellow card to the Cougars defender. Matt Will lashed a good effort on target from the free kick, but the Kean's Jaxon Mast made a nice diving save to his left to keep the game scoreless level. Such chaos would crop up later in the match.

It was Kean who opened the scoring, as Jaime Madrid slotted a ball past Sean Najdzinowicz in the 15^th minute. The rest of the first half was evenly contested, with both sides logging a similar number of shots. Despite the Lions (5-0-4) amassing six corner kicks in the first half, Kean was able to go into the halftime break up 1-0.

The drama began in the 72^nd minute, when the referee showed Shabazz-Henry a second yellow card and a red for dissent. The Cougars again saw red again in the 81^st minute, when their Marvin Munoz Garcia Jr. was ejected after an alleged kick after the whistle against TCNJ's Matt Maceri. To make matters even worse, the referee showed a third red card to Kean in the 88^th minute. As a result, Kean had to see out the final minutes of the contest with just eight players, which is just one more than the minimum of seven players required to field an eligible team. At the end of the day, the referee found himself with a full notebook, having shown nine yellow cards and three reds.

With the substantial numbers advantage, the Lions poured on the pressure in the latter stages of the game. TCNJ earned eight corner kicks in the second half, making it 14 total on the day. The Lions finally equalized in the 82^nd minute through Nathan Lipton. Matias Hornos put in a cross which found a wide-open Lawrence Mancino in the Cougars' penalty area. Mancino crossed it to Manny Thacher whose shot drew an excellent save, and Lipton pounced upon the rebound to tie up the match.

The Lions came inches away from a win in the 90^th minute. Aidan Grund put in a well-placed cross that Matt Maceri jumped backward to head. Unfortunately, Maceri's header skewed just wide of the right post to confirm the 1-1 scoreline.

Despite the disappointing result, the Lions were able to stretch their unbeaten streak to nine with the draw. The last time TCNJ men's soccer started this well was 30 years ago in the 1995 season, when the Lions went all the way to the Elite 8. Members of that team, as well as those from the '77 and '05 teams, were in attendance on Alumni day today.

The Lions now look ahead to their next match: an away fixture against Stockton on Wednesday, October 1.