EWING, N.J. (Oct. 25, 2023) – The New Jersey Athletic Conference series between the Rutgers University-Camden and The College of New Jersey men's soccer teams has become one of the most puzzling rivalries around the NJAC for the past two decades, and that trend continued here Wednesday night.
 
TCNJ won its only home game of the season with a 2-1 victory over Rutgers-Camden as it continued a mystifying trend between the two teams. Since the last Rutgers-Camden victory in Ewing on Sept. 24, 2003, the Scarlet Raptors have gone 0-7-4 on TCNJ's home pitch. By contrast, during that time in Camden, the Scarlet Raptors own an 8-1 record against the Lions, losing only in 2010.
 
The Lions' win snapped a three-game losing streak, ending their season with a 4-12-2 record overall, a 2-6-1 mark in the NJAC and a 1-4 home mark.
 
Rutgers-Camden finished the regular season with an 8-7-3 overall record and a 3-4-2 mark in the NJAC. The Scarlet Raptors will move on to the six-team conference playoffs as the sixth seed, where they will play a first-round game Saturday at 5 p.m. at third-seed Kean University. The Raptors lost at Kean, 2-0, on Oct. 7.
 
Tickets prices for all tournament games are $10 for adults, and $5 for children, students and senior citizens.
 
NJAC bracket
 
TCNJ took an early 1-0 lead on an unassisted goal in the 20th minute by freshman Matias Hornos. The Lions added the eventual game-winning goal by freshman Chris Meder in the 62nd minute, assisted by sophomore Massimo Rodio.
 
Rutgers-Camden finally broke TCNJ's shutout bid at 80:29 when sophomore Eric Swen scored his fourth goal of the year. Khylei Neal, a senior with junior eligibility in soccer, picked up his second assist of the season on the play. That was the last shot of the game for the Scarlet Raptors, who were outshot, 20-19. Rutgers-Camden held a 7-3 advantage in corner kicks.
 
Both Raptor junior goalie Sean Boen and Lions senior keeper Julian Franco finished with eight saves.