Box Score

Wayne, NJ… The College of New Jersey football team handled the pigskin for a staggering 42:43 as they rolled over William Paterson University 27-3 on Saturday afternoon in New Jersey Athletic Conference action.

The win pushes the Lions overall mark to 5-4 and guarantees at least a .500 record this season. They now stand at 4-2 in league play and are tied for second place. The Pioneers dropped to 3-7 overall and 1-6 in the NJAC.

TCNJ snapped out of its scoring funk as the offense tallied four touchdowns through the air. Sophomore quarterback Sam Paladino (East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) tossed a pair of touchdown passes, while freshman Craig Cicardo (Forked River, NJ/Lacey) also contributed with his first two TD passes of the season.

Sophomore tight end Andrew Lachawiec (Belford, NJ/Middletown North) celebrated his first collegiate touchdown reception by catching his second as he led TCNJ's offense with a pair of first-half scores. Lachawiec hauled in a five-yard scoring pass from Paladino and 13-yard scoring strike from Cicardo.

Sophomore running back Victor Scalici (Freehold, NJ/Colts Neck) and sophomore wide receiver Conor Mulholland (Wall, NJ/Wall) also caught touchdown passes in the victory.

The Lions' defense put forth another dominant effort as they held an opponent to single-digit points for the third time this season. They permitted just 151 yards of total offense and eight first downs to a dangerous WPU attack that entered the game averaging 26.0 points per game. The Pioneers managed only 13 rushing yards on 18 carries as they were held to a season-low three points.

Turnovers appeared as if they may be a factor entering the game and it didn't take long for that component to impact the contest. A fumble by Chris Banchard was recovered by senior Justin Bruso (Vernon, NJ/Vernon) at the Pioneer 29-yard line, giving the Lions great field position with just 1:39 gone in the first quarter. Six plays later, Paladino found Lachawiec a 5-yard touchdown strike to give TCNJ a 7-0 lead.

The Pioneers enjoyed its most productive drive when they marched 77 yards before Robert Sinegra knocked the ball through the uprights to close the gap to 7-3.

Midway through the second quarter, Cicardo drove the offense 58 yards on 13 plays and connected with Lachawiec for his second touchdown of the day. That stretched the advantage to 14-3.

The Lions' defense made a statement to the high-scoring WPU offense in the opening half. The first four drives for the Pioneers went two plays (fumble), eight plays (field goal), three plays (punt), three plays (punt). William Paterson did put together an impressive 12-play, 65-yard drive, but a missed field goal from 26 yards providing them no points to show for it.

The start of the second half followed the script of the opening two quarters. WPU went three-and-out in part due to the second sack of the day for senior co-captain Patrick Kimball (Seaville, NJ/Ocean City). Kimball now has 10 sacks this season, which is the tenth-highest total in program history. He also leads the conference in sacks and tackles for loss (16).

Paladino then led TCNJ on a 12-play, 63-yard drive that culminated with an eight-yard TD pass to Scalici. The Lions iced the game as Paladino and Cicardo combined to lead the offense 17-play, 80-yard scoring drive that ate up a sizeable 10:04 on the clock. Cicardo found Mulholland in the end zone from six yards out to cap the scoring with two minutes remaining.

Scalici finished with 93 yards rushing, while Brad Young (Cresskill, NJ/Cresskill) gained 82 yards on the ground.

Senior Nick Bricker (Middletown, NJ/Middletown South) led the defense with six tackles, three coming for a loss. Kimball had five tackles and two sacks, while Bruso, junior Ryan Lowe (Howell, NJ/Howell), and junior Jeffrey Adubato (Lincoln Park, NJ/Butler) each registered a sack.

The Lions visit Rowan University on Friday night in their regular season finale. The Profs defeated Kean University 7-6 to maintain their grip on first place in the NJAC standings.