Box Score

Cortland, NY…Senior Alex Okuniewicz (Toms River, NJ/Toms River South) recorded a hat trick for The College of New Jersey field hockey team as the Lions finished off the regular season with a 5-0 road win at SUNY Cortland on Sunday.

Fourth-ranked TCNJ enters the postseason riding an eight-game winning streak, finishing with a record of 18-2. That postseason begins on Wednesday as the Lions will host Kean University in the New Jersey Athletic Conference Tournament. This marks the first time the conference has held a tournament for field hockey.

TCNJ didn't waste any time in jumping on the Red Dragons with Okuniewicz getting her first two goals in the opening eight minutes. The first came 4:50 into the game and then just over three minutes later she bumped that advantage to two goals drilling a shot from the left side into the Cortland net with Christy Wham (Robbinsville, NJ/Robbinsville) setting up the score.

Wham remained in a giving mood as she assisted on a goal by Erin Waller (Sewell, NJ/Washington Twp.) midway through the half.

Okuniewicz completed the hat trick on a penalty stroke as that goal gave the Lions a comfortable 4-0 heading into the half. That goal came with 3:59 on the clock.

The Lions tacked on one more goal in the final half as junior Caitlyn Jenkins (Mickleton, NJ/Kingsway) cleaned up a rebound for her 14th goal of the season.

Senior goalie Shannon Syciarz (Garwood, NJ/Arthur L. Johnson) finished with three saves as she combined with Amanda Krause (Richboro, PA/Council Rock North) on the team's 11th shutout of the season. Syciarz also set a career high for wins in a season collecting her 18th against the Red Dragons.

The Lions dominated in every area against Cortland (10-6) with decisive 36-5 advantage in shots and a lopsided 26-3 margin in penalty corners.