Ewing, NJ... In a preview of next week's New Jersey Athletic Conference semifinal, The College of New Jersey gained the upper hand against Kean University as the Lions completed a perfect conference slate with an 18-8 win on Saturday.
 
That semifinal match-up is set Wednesday, April 30 at 7 p.m. with TCNJ serving as the top seed and Kean coming in as the fourth seed. This is the first year the conference will sponsor a post-season tournament with the previous champions being decided by the regular-season standings.
 
The Lions went a perfect 6-0 in conference play to push their NJAC winning streak to 23 straight, dating back to the 2010 season. Overall, fourth-ranked TCNJ is 15-1.
 
The loss squared Kean's conference record at 3-3 and 9-7 overall.
 
Prior to the game, the program honored its four seniors for their hard work and dedication the last four years. Recognized in a brief ceremony were Jennamarie Colicchia (Freehold, NJ/Freehold Township), Jen Garavente (Monroe Twp., NJ/Monroe Twp.). Lauren Pigott (Jobstown, NJ/Northern Burlington), and Nicole Pineda (Wall, NJ/Red Bank Catholic).
 
The opening half was a game of runs with each team boasting multiple-goal spurts. The Lions started the game by scoring four times in the 4:15 with junior Erin Waller (Washington Twp., NJ/Washington Twp.) opening the scoring, followed by goals from Pigott, sophomore Cortney Natalicchio (New Egypt, NJ/New Egypt), and junior Ava Fitzgerald (Merrick, NY/Calhoun).
 
The Cougars fought back with five straight goals to take the lead with Ciara Mastrodomenico (Blairstown, NJ/North Warren) picking up two during that time and the others coming from Carly Seidel (Winslow Twp., NJ/Winslow Twp.), Jordan Blanda (Neptune, NJ/Neptune), and Kelly Bachovchin (Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway).
 
The Lions finished strong as they tied the game at 5-5 on a goal by Garavente and then took the lead for goal with 4:47 left before the break when junior Kendal Borup (Plainsboro, NJ/West Windsor-Plainsboro South) scored unassisted.
 
That lead grew to 7-5 just 23 seconds later when Pigott set up Waller and TCNJ got one more goal in with six seconds left when junior Erin Healy (Spring Lake Heights, NJ/Manasquan) quick-sticked a pass in from Garavente feed.
 
TCNJ dictated play in the second half scoring the first four goals of the period to forge a 12-5 advantage. In all, the Lions outscored Kean 10-3 in the final 30 minutes.
 
Lion goalie Kelly Schlupp (Holland, PA/Council Rock South) finished with four saves to garner the victory.
 
Kean goalie Daniella Wagenti (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley) made eight saves.
 
TCNJ once again had balanced scoring with Garavente leading the charge with four goals and three assists, while Pigott also scored four times with two assist. Borup and Waller added three goals apiece.
 
Mastrodomenico accounted for half of Kean's goals with four.