Lions off to solid start in conference play
The preliminaries are over, and now it’s time to get down to serious men’s soccer for The College of New Jersey.
The Lions (3-5-1, 1-0 NJAC) opened conference play with a nice 1-0 win at Ramapo to begin their title chase.
Next up is a home game Wednesday with undefeated Kean (5-0-3, 0-0 NJAC) with the first kick set for 6 p.m.
The Cougars had their NJAC opener postponed by last Saturday’s weather.
Then on Saturday, the Lions welcome William Paterson (4-5, 0-1 NJAC) for a 12 p.m. start.
The victory at Ramapo was the first time since 2016 that the Lions won a conference opener on the road and the first time since 2018 it won an NJAC opener.
The College of New Jersey was picked eighth in the league’s preseason poll, and it would love to prove a few pundits wrong.
“Anytime you are able to secure a win on the road in this conference that is a confidence boost especially to open up the conference play,’’ said George Nazario, the TCNJ coach. “Not much separates most of the teams in the conference, so to secure a road win is a great way to start off the conference campaign.’’
TCNJ gained the win behind an early goal from sophomore Colin Kenville, and then the defense led by ‘keeper Julian Franco kept the Roadrunners (2-3-2, 0-1 NJAC) off the scoreboard.
Franco registered a career-high 10 saves in the win. The senior has recorded double-digits in saves in seven of the Lions’
nine games.
Things could be coming to fruition at the right time for the Lions.
“I believe it is starting to take shape,’’ said Nazario. “The fact that we were able to secure the win via a shutout gives the group a solid base to build upon. As they always say, it is easier to destroy than create, so hopefully the offense will be able to produce more efficiency as we move on with our conference schedule.’’
The Lions have only 10 goals in the nine games, and seven of them came in two games: NYU and Penn St. Abington.
Freshman Chris Meder from Cherokee leads the scoring parade with three, and Kenville and junior Dan Grund, from WW-P South, each have two. Senior Luke Pascarella has a goal and an assist.
Scoring goals against Kean won’t come easy as goalkeeper Dominc Ridge was recently named the NJAC Defensive Player of the Week after 11 saves in Kean’s upset win over No. 9 Franklin & Marshall.
Ridge leads the NJAC with an 0.50 goals against average and an .870 save percentage.
Sadeiki Roberts leads the Cougars with three goals and Donte East has a pair. Nico Ibanez has two assists.
“As has been the case the last two games, we need to stretch them out defensively,’’ Nazario said of facing Kean. “If we can isolate the wide players and force them to defend then we will be OK. As is always the case, scoring an early goal would be helpful in establishing confidence for the group.’’
It could be a week that builds some season-lasting confidence.