Ewing, NJ... The top of the New Jersey Athletic Conference standings for field hockey gained a little clarity on Saturday with The College of New Jersey knocking Montclair State University out of a three-way tie at the top of the standings. The Lions held off the Red Hawks for a 2-1 victory and stayed unbeaten in the conference in the process.
 
The win put TCNJ at 3-0 in the NJAC and 12-1 overall, while Montclair State fell to 2-1 in the league and 10-3 overall.
 
The Lions are now tied with only Rowan University, which moved to 3-0 earlier on Saturday with a 4-0 win at Richard Stockton College. The Profs will host TCNJ in the season finale on November 1.
 
The Lions jumped out to the early lead getting the game's initial goal 11:57 into the contest. Senior Erin Healy (Spring Lake Heights, NY/Manasquan) poked in a rebound on shot by sophomore Lexi Smith (Florence, NJ/Florence Twp.).
 
Healy also factored in on the team's second goal as she was on the assisting end of a give-and-go that senior Lindsey Hatch (Sewell, NJ/Washington Twp.) buried for her team-leading 22^nd goal of the season.
 
The Lions came close to making it a 3-0 lead 10 minutes into the second half with back-to-back chances. The first attempt was stopped when Montclair State's Megan Roeloffs (Robbinsville, NJ/Robbinsville) made a defensive save on a shot by Smith. TCNJ's Danielle Andreula (New Egypt, NJ/New Egypt) then collected the ensuing clearing attempt and skimmed a shot off of the near post.
 
The Red Hawks did break through for a goal with 22:35 left in the game when freshman Kaitlyn Struss (Fairfield, NJ/West Essex) popped in a rebound on a flurry that saw them take three shots in a manner of seconds. It was her team-leading 14 goal off the year.
 
Lion goalie Kelly Schlupp (Holland, PA/Council Rock South) notched her 12^th win of the season with three saves.
 
In goal for Montclair State, junior Rebecca Brattole (Clark, NJ/Arthur L. Johnson) registered eight saves.
 
The Lions continue their conference slate on Tuesday, October 14 when they head to Kean University for a 7 p.m. start with the Cougars, while the Red Hawks are idle until October 18^th when they host Richard Stockton College for homecoming.