St. Davids, PA... An early offensive explosion put The College of New Jersey field hockey team in control as the Lions went on to post a 7-1 victory at Eastern University on Tuesday.
 
The win elevated fourth-ranked TCNJ to 11-1 on the season and the loss knocked the Eagles to 5-7.
 
The Lions rattled off five goals in the opening 16:14 of the game with senior Lindsey Hatch (Sewell, NJ/Washington Twp.) netting three of those and classmate Erin Healy (Spring Lake Heights, NY/Manasquan) collected one score and set up three others. Sophomore Jaclyn Douglas (Malvern, PA/Great Valley) added the other goal in that barrage that put the guests out to a comfortable 5-0 lead before the opening period was half over.
 
Senior Erin Waller (Sewell, NJ/Washington Twp.) tacked on another goal before the break with Hatch picking up a helper. That goal came with 3:29 left before the break.
 
The Eagles struck for a goal in the opening minutes of the second half, but the Lions got it back in a late going when sophomore Danielle Andreula (New Egypt, NJ/New Egypt) netted her fourth of the season with 4:25 left in the contest.
 
TCNJ goalie Kelly Schlupp (Holland, PA/Council Rock South) earned the win playing a scoreless first half, while senior Amanda Krause (Richboro, PA/Council Rock North) played the final frame and registered a season-high five saves.
 
The Lions return to New Jersey Athletic Conference play on Saturday when they host 11^th-ranked Montclair University at Lions Stadium for a 6 p.m. contest. Both teams are in a three-way tie for the top spot in the conference standings with identical 2-0 records. Rowan University is also in the mix winning both of its NJAC games.