By Julie Kayzerman '16

Ewing, NJ ... The fourth-ranked College of New Jersey women's lacrosse team (7-0) recorded a 13-6 triumph against number 12 Messiah College (4-3) on Thursday night in Lions Stadium.

The teams took the field and played at a frantic pace in the first 10 minutes of the matchup, scoring seven combined goals in 10 minutes.

The Lions found themselves in strange territory, giving up the first goal of the game to Falcons freshman attacker Courtney Wagner just 1:44 into the first.

But it didn't take the Lions long to get back on track as sophomore attacker Amanda Muller (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough) wrapped around the back side of the Messiah's net and dodged her way through the defensive zone to strike the ball past the Falcon goalie, tying the game, 1-1 at 3:58.

That would mark the last time the score was even as Muller's goal sparked the Lion's attack into full throttle. Senior attacker Cortney Natalicchio (New Egypt, NJ/New Egypt) utilized a free position shot to put the Lions ahead, 2-1, just 2:21 later.

The two opponents continued to threaten each other's offensive zone until the Falcons fell behind 5-2, and took a timeout at the 10-minute mark to regroup.

Both teams seemed to slow the game down after re-taking the field, but it was Messiah who struck again, cutting their deficit to 5-3 with 18:02 left in the first.

Junior attacker Mia Blackman (Arlington, VA/Field School) added two Lion goals in the half, but Messiah closed it out with a quick goal in the remaining 38 seconds to make it 7-4, keeping the match tight.

With the Falcons starting and closing out the first, Natalicchio made sure to change the pattern, drilling in a goal for the college 35 seconds into the second for her  20^th goal of the season.

Blackman recorded her hat trick at 5:05 in the second off a Muller assist to widen the Lion's lead, 9-4. One minute and 30 seconds later, sophomore Emily Kratz (Robbinsville, NJ/Robbinsville) added her second tally of the night off a Natalicchio assist to mark the college's 10^th point of the night.

Kratz added a hat trick to the score sheet at 8:93 in the second after sprinting down the right side of the field for a wrap-around-net snipe.

Muller finished a dominating night on the field with two goals and three assists. Freshman midfielder Erin Harvey (Mount Laurel, NJ/Lenape) also had two points and graduate student Erin Waller (Sewell, NJ/Washington Township) had one in the Lion's triumph.

"Amanda is very quiet in nature, she's a quiet player but her skill is very good," said TCNJ Head Coach Sharon Pfluger '82.

The college's success was made large in part by sophomore midfielder Elizabeth Morrison (Stonington, CT/Stonington) dominating the back end, causing seven turnovers and frequently charging the field to initiate an aggressive TCNJ attack.

Freshman goalie Miranda Chrone (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) had three saves on fifteen shots in the win as the Lions outshot the Falcons, 22-15.

TCNJ hits the road next to take on top-ranked SUNY Cortland (5-0) on Saturday, March 26 at 3:30 p.m. in Corland, NY.

"We're excited about it," Pfluger said of the upcoming competition. "We haven't played them for past two years... it's good to have them back on our schedule."