Ewing, NJ...Through the opening four games of the season, The College of New Jersey women's lacrosse team has overwhelmed teams with its high-scoring offense. In Tuesday's 13-5 win over visiting Kean University, sophomore goalie Kelsey Zinck (Burke, VA/James W. Robinson) made three key saves in the second half that thwarted a Kean rally and carried the Lions to their fifth straight win.
 
The win kept the third-ranked Lions undefeated on the season at 5-0 and 2-0 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference, while the Cougars are an even 2-2 overall and 0-1 in the conference.
 
TCNJ carried a 9-1 lead into the second half, but the Cougars scored the first three goals of the new half to make it a five-goal difference. Junior Lyndsey Cannon (Delran, NJ/Delran) netted the first of those two with Ciara Mastrodomenica (Blairstown, NJ/North Warren) getting the third.
 
Freshman Erin Healy (Spring Lake Heights, NJ/Manasquan) got one of those goals back for the Lions as she picked up her first collegiate goal with an assist from classmate Erin Waller (Washington, Twp., NJ/Washington Twp.). That goal came with 14:41 showing on the clock.
 
Kean had a great chance to cut back into TCNJ's lead with the Lions have two players in the penalty area after receiving yellow cards. Zinck made sure the difference stayed at six goals while the Cougars had a two-man advantage stopping Cannon on a free-position attempt and then denying Mastrodomenica from point blank.
 
Zinck added another big save with just under four minutes remaining stopping Stephanie Tocko (Toms River, NJ/Toms River East) on another eight-meter shot.
 
The Cougars finally get that fifth goal with 1:58 left in the game, but TCNJ countered with goals from Alex Spark (Harvey Cedars, NJ/Southern Regional) and Kathleen Notos (Pennsauken, NJ/Camden Catholic) to round out the scoring.
 
Zinck finished with a season-high saves for the Lions.  
 
TCNJ never trailed in the game as Lauren Pigott (Jobstown, NJ/Northern Burlington) opened the scoring 3:50 into the contest with Leigh Mitchell (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) handing out an assist.
 
Sophomore Jen Garavente (Monroe Twp., NJ/Monroe Twp.) ran that score to 3-0 with a pair of back-to-back free-position goals.
 
Kean then cashed in on a free-position goal of their own as Cannon converted on her chance.
 
The Lions then controlled the scoreboard the rest of the half reeling off the final six goals of the frame. Notos started that run scoring on a feed from Garavente, while Jillian Nealon (Whitehouse Station, NJ/Hunterdon Central) capped things off with 4:50 left with an unassisted goal.
 
Garavente paced TCNJ's offense with three goals and two assists, while Notos also scored three times.
 
Cannon also scored three goals for the Cougars as she and Notos remained tied for the NJAC lead in goals scored at 21 each.
 
In goal for the Cougars, Jules Keeley (Ocean Twp., NJ/Ocean Twp.) recorded 14 saves.
 
TCNJ faces its toughest test of the young season on Saturday as they head to SUNY Cortland to face the fourth-ranked Red Dragons in a noon start.