Ewing, NJ… The College of New Jersey field hockey team pushed its winning streak to 17 straight games as the Lions began conference play with a 5-0 victory over Richard Stockton College in their home opener.
 
The top-ranked Lions are 1-0 in New Jersey Athletic Conference play and 3-0 overall, while the Ospreys are 1-4 and 0-1 in the conference.
 
Senior Jillian Nealon (Whitehouse Station, NJ/Hunterdon Central) continues to torment opposing goalies as she scored three of the team's first four goals as the Lions carried a 5-0 lead into the half. With her second hat trick of the season, Nealon has already scored a career-high eight times.
 
Nealon opened the scoring 3:01 into the game with an assist going to Caitlyn Jenkins (Mickleton, NJ/Kingsway). Sophomore Erin Healy (Spring Lake Heights, NJ/Manasquan) then made it 2-0 with an assist from Nealon just under seven minutes later as the Lions took control.
 
Nealon then finished off the hat trick with consecutive goals later in the period scoring on assists from Victoria Martin (Clark, NJ/Arthur L. Johnson) and Jenkins.
 
Jenkins closed out the scoring with 11:57 left in the opening half with Healy earning an assist on the play.
 
Freshman Roisin Dougherty (Ocean City, NJ/Ocean City) won her second straight game between the pipes for the Lions making a pair of saves.
 
Jenkins added a goal and two assists for TCNJ, while Healy scored once and set up another.
 
In goal for the Ospreys, sophomore Sara Winters (Blackwood, NJ/Triton) finished five saves and Gabrielle Evans (Bordentown, NJ/Bordentown) recorded a defensive save.
 
TCNJ returns to the road on Thursday, September 13 as they head to Gwynedd-Mercy College for a 7 p.m. start, while the Ospreys don't play again until Saturday traveling to Eastern University for a noon start.