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EWING – It’s not easy to be on top of the New Jersey Athletic Conference, especially in men’s soccer.
According to a Sept. 25, 2015 article from d3soccer.com, the NJAC was ranked third in NCAA wins since 2010. Only the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth and the New England Small College Athletic Conference rank higher than the NJAC.
Knowing that, it takes some of the sting out of TCNJ’s 3-0 loss to William Paterson Saturday at Lions’ Stadium.
Last season, four teams represented the NJAC in the NCAA tournament: Rowan University, Rutgers University-Newark, Montclair State University and Kean University.
Both Rowan and Rutgers-Newark received home field advantage in the first round. Meanwhile, Kean University qualified for the tournament after placing finishing seventh in the NJAC and not even competing in the conference tournament.
“The NJAC is one of the most competitive, if not the most competitive conferences, in the country, having four teams make it to NCAA’s last year,” said TCNJ senior captain Michael Kassak. “The team plans on advancing further in the tournament by taking the season one game at a time. You can’t count any teams out or take any games off to compete in this conference. We have a lot of returners and have had great camaraderie in the past.”
In contrast, TCNJ qualified for the NJAC tournament as the last and sixth seed with a 9-9-2 record, but did not make the NCAA tournament.
Rutgers-Newark reached the NCAA quarterfinals before lost to Brandeis University, 4-2.
So far into the 2017 season, the top three teams in the NJAC have proven to be impressive.
Third-place William Paterson is currently on a six game winning streak and has posted four shutouts.
Second-place Stockton has yet to lose a match. The 6-0-1 Ospreys have only dealt with a tie against Arcadia. Rutgers-Newark sits atop the conference at 6-0, and is ranked sixth in the nation by d3soccer.com.
Rutgers-Camden is the only team currently with a losing record in the NJAC.
Since the 2013 season, the Lions have yet to record an above .500 record against conference opponents. During the 2016 season, the they went 4-4-1 against conference opponents in securing that final place in the NJAC tournament.
For TCNJ, the main priority this year will be winning more conference matches. The last time the Lions won the conference was in 2005.