Montclair, NJ ... The College of New Jersey women's lacrosse team fought through unruly weather conditions to wrestle an 8-6 victory away from Montclair State University.
 
Rain, snow, and 40-degree weather factored into a challenging New Jersey Athletic Conference match-up on the road. The #3 Lions (11-1, 2-0 NJAC) toughed it for their second conference win. The Red Hawks (7-4, 0-1 NJAC) put together a late rush with the final three goals of the contest, but TCNJ held strong in the final minutes to come out on top.
 
The Lions got off to a quick start as junior Mia Blackman (Arlington, Va/Field School) notched back-to-back goals to open the game. Senior Erin Waller (Washington, NJ/Washington Twp.) found the back of the net off a feed from Cortney Natalicchio (New Egypt, NJ/New Egypt) just over 10 minutes into the game, and TCNJ was in command up 3-0 with 19:52 remaining in the opening period.
 
Montclair got on the board with 7:31 to play in the half. That broke a streak of 120:44 without allowing a goal for the Lions. But Waller netted her second goal off a free position to give TCNJ a 4-1 advantage at the break.
 
MSU's Casey McGuire scored for the Red Hawks in the opening minute of the second period to draw within two, but the Lions retaliated with three consecutive scores. Senior Megan Devlin (Marmora, NJ/Ocean City) notched her 12^th goal of the season before Natalicchio and freshman Kathleen Jaeger (Whitehouse Station, NJ/Hunterdon Central) scored just 27 seconds apart to extend the Lions lead to 7-2.
 
Devlin's second goal of the game came with 15:21 remaining in the game. That pushed the score to 8-3. The Red Hawks scored twice and then drew within two goals with 7:21 left on the clock. MSU had a solid chance to cut its deficit to one with a free position attempt with 2:14 to play. But TCNJ goaltender Miranda Chrone (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) made a key save and the Lions held possession for the final two minutes to secure the win.
 
Natalicchio led the way with five points (one goal and four assists). Devlin, Blackman, and Waller each finished with a pair of goals, while sophomore Elizabeth Morrison (Stonington, CT/Stonington) won three draw controls and caused two turnovers.
 
Chrone finished with three saves in the game for her 11^th victory in net.
 
TCNJ continues its NJAC regular season schedule with a match on Tuesday night against Rutgers-Camden in Lions Stadium at 7 p.m.