Box Score
Senior Night Insert
Ewing, NJ… Offense won out over defense when The College of New Jersey field hockey team took on Kean University as the Lions remained undefeated in conference play with a 7-1 victory on Tuesday at Lions' Stadium.
TCNJ entered the game as the top-scoring offense in the New Jersey Athletic Conference scoring at a clip of 3.56 goals per game, while Kean sat atop to the defensive rankings allowing a mere 0.89 goals a contest. The hosts doubled their season average and the seven goals tied a season high.
The win put the fifth-ranked Lions at 13-2 on the season and 4-0 in the NJAC, while the loss dropped the Cougars to 2-3 in the conference and 9-5 overall.
Prior to the game, TCNJ honored its five seniors for their hard work and dedication to the program. Recognized were Colleen Dougherty (Atco, NJ/Hammonton), Alycia Gotthold (Atco, NJ/Hammonton), Sheri Grondski (Mercerville, NJ/Nottingham), Ashleigh Pecherski (Middletown, NJ/Middletown) and Gina Quaranta (Yardley, PA/Pennsbury).
The Lions tallied the only goal in the opening half as junior Jackie Gelinas (Flemington, NJ/Hunterdon) recorded her first of the season with 14:16 remaining in the period.
TCNJ goalie Caitlin Gregory (Winslow, NJ/Eastern) made sure the score stayed 1-0 heading into the half as she made back-to-back saves on Kean's Brittany Gibbs (West Depford, NJ/West Deptford), with the first one being a sprawling one on a penalty corner.
The Lions clicked offensively right from the start in the second half as freshman Leigh Mitchell (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) scored 4:54 into the new frame with an assist from junior Katie Reuther (Toms River, NJ/Toms River North).
Junior Jenny Lubin (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) made it 3-0 deflecting in a centering pass from Mitchell and then exactly a minute later, Pecherski made it 4-0 off of a penalty corner with Grondski picking up the assist. That goal gave the Lions three markers in a span of 3:41.
The hosts tacked on two more goals as Lubin netted her second of the game and then Reuther cashed in on a penalty stroke making it a 6-0 game.
The Cougars spoiled the shutout in the final 10 minutes as Julie Bachovchin (Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway) scored with an assist from Brandee Brown (South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield).
The Lions closed out the scoring with 7:42 remaining as Kendra Boyd (Atlantic Highlands, NJ/Henry Hudson) tapped in her fifth of the year with an assist from Reuther.
Gregory notched the win in goal for TCNJ making five saves.
In goal for the Cougars, sophomore Jenni Barry (Berkeley Heights, NJ/Governor Livingston) finished with five saves, while Ashlie Berghold (Boyertown, PA/Boyertown Area Senior) had a pair.
