Ewing, NJ - In a dramatic finish, The College of New Jersey men's soccer team defeated No. 17/4 Montclair State University 2-1 in New Jersey Athletic Conference action on Saturday afternoon in TCNJ's Soccer Complex.
All three goals were scored in the final 10 minutes of play and just six minutes apart. Senior Kevin Shaw (Brookside, NJ/West Morris Menhdam) came up huge for the Lions (7-2-1, 2-1 NJAC)), scoring the first goal at the 80:00 mark and then assisting on the game-winner. Freshman Nick Costelloe (Freehold, NJ/Freehold Twp) tallied the biggest goal of his young career, pushing in a cross from Shaw with 4:10 to play to top a talented Red Hawk (7-2-1, 1-1-1 NJAC) squad.
Shaw gave the Lions a 1-0 lead with exactly ten minutes remaining in the game. Senior Sean Casey (Toms River, NJ/Toms River South) took the ball down the left side and hit a cross-field pass to sophomore Joe Martinico (East Meadow, NJ/East Meadow). He settled and spotted Shaw inside the penalty box. Shaw fought off his defender to collect the pass and flick a shot past the goalkeeper to net his 12th goal of the year.
Junior Jesse Shea (Marlton, NJ, Cherokee) evened the score with just over five minutes to play. Junior Mike Horan (Bridgewater, NJ, Bridgewater-Raritan) hit a cross from the right side approximately 35 yards out, and Shea headed a perfectly-placed shot into the left pocket to knot the game 1-1.
A minute later, Shaw broke free down the right side and cut in towards the keeper. Rather than take the shot, he sent a ground pass across the box to Costello, who was running in from the left side. Costelloe showed composure by one-timing a shot past the goalie into the right corner for the game-winner.
TCNJ had a few solid opportunities in the opening period. MSU defenders made three team saves, including two back-to-back when Shaw and Greg Kaye (Morganville, NJ/Marlboro) were denied. The Red Hawks also were busy on the attack, forcing Lions' goalkeeper Aaron Utman (Pennington, NJ/Hopewell Valley) to make five saves in the first half.
Play in the second half remained even until the fireworks erupted in the second half. Shaw, who entered the week ranked fourth nationally in goals scored, added another to his spectacular season. It was the fourth goal of the year for Costelloe, and his first game-breaker.
Montclair held the advantage in shots 17-14. Junior goalie Kevin Lynch (Cinnaminson, NJ, Cinnaminson) stopped three shots in the loss. Utman finished with five saves to capture his sixth win of the season.
The Red Hawks look to get back on the winning track on Monday, September 30 as it hosts Brooklyn College at MSU Soccer Park beginning at 7:00 pm.
