Box Score

Medford, MA…The College of New Jersey opened play in the 2008 NCAA Field Hockey Championships with a strong showing as the Lions scored five times in the second half to pull out a 6-0 victory over Christopher Newport University on Saturday in Medford, MA.

The fifth-ranked Lions are now 16-2 on the season and will face host Tufts University on Sunday at 1 p.m. with the winner advancing to the national semifinals. Tufts moved on in the tournament with a 4-0 win over Springfield College.

The 17th-ranked Captains finished their campaign with a record of 14-6.

Today's game between TCNJ and CNU marked the first time the schools have met in field hockey.

Freshman Alex Okuniewicz (Toms River, NJ/Toms River North) scored the only goal of the first half cashing in on a penalty stroke 6:31 into the game to put the Lions in front.

TCNJ added to their lead early in the second half as sophomore Leigh Mitchell (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) scored 1:49 into the new period and senior Jenny Lubin (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) made it 3-0 1:06 later. Mitchell then added back-to-back goals for her second straight hat trick and sophomore Kellyn Riley (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill West) closed out the scoring with the team's sixth goal with 15:57 remaining.

For the Lions, goalie Shannon Syciarz (Garwood, NJ/Arthur L. Jackson) picked up her fourth shutouts of the season making four saves.