Box Score
Ewing, NJ... The College of New Jersey took its first step in capturing the inaugural New Jersey Athletic Conference Tournament women's lacrosse title as the top-seeded Lions toppled Kean University 20-1 in Wednesday night's semifinal.
 
The win sets up the conference's initial championship game at Lions' Stadium on Saturday, May 3 at 1 p.m. The Lions will face third-seeded Rowan University, who bumped off second-seeded Montclair State University, 15-4. TCNJ defeated the Profs 20-5 back on April 8 in their only meeting this season.
 
The winner of Saturday's game will not only capture the league crown, but they will also earn the conference's automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA Division III Tournament.
 
The win put the fourth-ranked Lions at 16-1 on the season, while the Cougars round out their campaign at 9-8. This marked the second time in six days the teams have met with the Lions taking the season finale from the Cougars 18-8.
 
For the second straight the Lions had their offense in high gear with junior Ava Fitzgerald (Merrick, NY/Calhoun) igniting things 53 seconds into the game.
 
Senior Lauren Pigott (Jobstown, NJ/Northern Burlington) added TCNJ's second goal 50 seconds later before the Cougars got on the board when Danielle Tomminelli (Monroe Twp., NJ/Monroe Twp.) with an assist from Julie Knodt (Mount Laurel, NJ/Lenape).
 
From that point the Lions scored the final 12 goals of the half with Fitzgerald scoring five times in that span. Adding to that offensive outburst with two goals each were Pigott, junior Erin Waller (Washington Twp., NJ/Washington Twp.), and sophomore Cortney Natalicchio (New Egypt, NJ/New Egypt), and senior Jen Garavente (Monroe Twp., NJ/Monroe Twp.) added one as the hosts led 14-1 at the half.
 
TCNJ added the only six goals in the second half with Garavente factoring in on five of them with three goals and setting up two other.
 
Those five points in the second half gave Garavente four goals and four assists, making the third time this season she has recorded eight points in a game. Fitzgerald led all goal scorers with seven goals, raising her team-leading total to 57 for the season. She also added an assist.
 
Lion goalie Kelly Schlupp (Holland, PA/Council Rock South) made one save for her 15^th victory of the season. Schlupp and the rest of TCNJ's stingy defense kept the Cougars off of the scoreboard for the final 55 minutes of the game. It marked the fifth time this season the Lions have held the opposition to one goal or less.
 
Kean goalie Daniella Wagenti (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley) had four stops.