The College of New Jersey Athletics

CAMDEN, N.J. -The TCNJ men's soccer team got back in the win column in its matchup against Rutgers-Camden Wednesday night, scoring the game's first three goals before holding off a late comeback attempt in a 3-2 victory over the Scarlet Raptors.
 
The Lions (7-0-8, 3-0-4 NJAC) went on the attack early in Wednesday's contest, getting a pair of shots on frame in the opening 11 minutes from Chris Meder and Matt Maceri that were both turned aside by Camden's Joseph Zubert. A trio of corners shortly thereafter failed to yield a shot on target before TCNJ finally broke through with a pair of goals just 37 seconds apart to take a 2-0 lead.
 
First to score was Manny Thacher, with the sophomore capitalizing on a rebound for his first goal of the season before Matt Will doubled the Lions' lead less than a minute later off a feed from Meder to put TCNJ up two 30 minutes in.
 
After Sean Najdzinowicz handled his first test of the evening, it was the Lions firing three shots in quick succession from Brennan Libo, Tino Scarponi and Nick Luddy, but each saw their shots denied by Zubert to keep it a two-score game at the break.
 
TCNJ kept its foot on the gas out of the break, drawing a penalty kick in the 52nd minute that Meder converted to push the Lions' advantage to 3-0. The visitors saw their bid at a shutout fall short when the Scarlet Raptors got their first goal past Najdinowicz to trim the lead back to two at the 59:15 mark.
 
A 90th-minute Camden goal made things interesting over the final 30 seconds, but the comeback attempt fell short with the final whistle clinching the 3-2 win for TCNJ.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The Lions held a comfortable lead in shots (14 to 5), shots on goal (10 to 5) and corners (12 to 1).
• Meder, Thacher and Luddy shared the team lead with two shots on goal apiece.
• Najdzinowicz made three saves on the night.
• Aidan Ayar was back on the field for the first time since September 30, playing 17 minutes off the bench.

NOTES

• TCNJ extended its program record for the longest unbeaten streak to start a season to 15.
• The Lions now sit alone in third place in the conference standings with two games to play.
• Thacher's goal was his first of the season and the second of his career.
• Will is now tied with Maceri for second-most goals on the team with four.
• This was Meder's first game of the season with both a goal and an assist.
  • The helper is the 18th of his career, moving the senior into the program's  top-10 all-time list.

UP NEXT

• The Lions are back home Saturday, October 24 to host Ramapo. Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m., with the program set to honor its five seniors before kickoff.