The College of New Jersey Athletics

The 1987 TCNJ lacrosse team was coming off a season that saw the Lions finish as National Runners-up. The Lions were hungry for more under second year head coach Sharon Pfluger.
 
TCNJ opened the season against NCAA Division I Tournament qualifier Northwestern. The Wildcats handed the Lions an early defeat 18-3. Pflugers squad would bounce back with victories over Swarthmore and East Stroudsburg. The Lions would even their record with a 6-5 defeat against Division II Shippensburg.
 
The Lions rebounded from that setback with a 9-2 win over Drew. Wins over Hofstra, Rowan, Lynchburg, and Ithaca extended the Lions winning streak to five.
 
The Lions would continue the winning streak through games against SUNY Cortland, Rutgers, Rowan, Millersville, and Kutztown heading into the final regular season game of the year. A rematch of both the 1985 and 86 National Championship games, TCNJ exacted a bit of revenge winning 8-4 to enter the NCAA Tournament on an 11 game winning streak.
 
In the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, the Lions topped Haverford 13-4. In the National Semifinal, TCNJ defeated William Smith 15-11 setting up a third straight National Championship game against Ursinus. The teams battled to a 7-7 tie at the end of regulation. The Lions broke through in the extra session to earn the 8-7 victory and a first lacrosse National Championship for Pfluger. Margie Flynn and Penny Kempf were named to the All-Tournament Team.
 
Kempf, Peggy Engelbert, Laura Groppo, and Sandy Stockl were each named First-Team All-Americans. The four first team All-Americans is still tied for a program record.
 
The Lions statistical outputs were impressive in any era. Engelbert’s 77 goals were the second most in program history at the time and still stands as the third most in a single season for the Lions. Stockl’s 222 saves still stands as the program record today.
 
Groppo led the Lions with 26 assists during the season, to go along with 52 goals. The 26 assists is currently 19^th most in a single season in program history.
 
In all, five players scored double digit goals with Deanna Beuerle adding 27, Lisa Rosener scored 19, and Flynn scoring 11.