Hartford, CT… The College of New Jersey came up huge in the second half as the Lions netted the final six goals and held Bowdoin College scoreless the final 24 minutes to post a 10-5 win in the third round of the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Tournament.
 
Seventh-ranked TCNJ (18-3) moves into Sunday's quarterfinal with top-ranked Trinity College (19-1) at 3:30 p.m. Trinity, which is serving as the host institution for the regional round, won earlier in the day with a 16-2 triumph over Pomoma-Pitzer. The winner of that game will earn a spot in the national semifinals in Philadelphia next weekend.
 
The Lions and Bantams have already met this season, with Trinity coming away with a 15-8 win in Lions Stadium back on April 15.
 
The loss ended fourth-ranked Bowdoin's season at 16-4.
 
The game was deadlocked at 4-4 at the half, but TCNJ took control in the final 30 minutes. The Polar Bears went up 5-4 with a goal by Emma Beecher just 5:56 into the half, but that turned out to be their final tally of the game as the Lion defense closed the door the rest of the way.
 
The spotless defense allowed the offense to kick into gear and junior Cortney Natalicchio (New Egypt, NJ/New Egypt) cashed in. She tied the game with 18:04 left in the half and then put TCNJ in front for good 1:17 later.
 
Natalicchio tacked on two more goals extending the lead to 8-5 as she finished off her personal run of five straight goals going back to the first half.
 
Senior Ava Fitzgerald (Merrick, NY/Calhoun) added a goal with 6:35 left and sophomore Mia Blackman (Arlington, VA/Field School) capped the scoring with 2:16 left. That goal came on a free-position attempt.
 
Sophomore goalie Kelly Schlupp (Holland, PA/Council Rock South) was stellar between the pipes as she recorded a season-high eight saves, with six of those coming in the second half.
 
The Polar Bears got off to the fast start against the Lions scoring the game's first three goals.
 
TCNJ got on the board thanks to a goal from senior Kendal Borup (Plainsboro, NJ/West Windsor-Plainsboro South) to make it 3-1. That goal came 7:51 into the game. The Lions then made it a one-goal game when Fitzgerald tallied four minutes later.
 
Blackman then tied the game for TCNJ 1:05 after Fitzgerald's goal.
 
The Polar Bears reclaimed the lead with 6:25 left before the half, but the Lions answered immediately when Natalicchio scored 49 seconds later.
 
With the game tied going into the final minute, TCNJ twice came within an inch of scoring as both Fitzgerald and Natalicchio had shots bounce off of the post.
 
Natalicchio finished with a game-high five goals as she raised her season total to 55 on the year. Fitzgerald added a pair as she reached the 60-goal plateau for the second straight season.