By Julie Kayzerman '16

Hartford, CT… The College of New Jersey women's lacrosse team rolled past Augustana College, 13-3 on Saturday, May 20 at Trinity College in Hartford, CT., to advance to the regional championship round of the NCAA Division IIIchampionship tournament.

The second-ranked Lions (20-1) eliminated the Vikings (18-3), and will take the field tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. to square off against Trinity College (17-3). The Bantams defeated Mary Washington University, 13-5. The winner of the regional championship game will advance to the national semifinal, which will be played in Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pa

Sophomore Amanda Muller (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough) stepped into a leadership role with a huge offensive game for the Lions, notching five goals and two assists in the win.

Kicking off the Saturday showdown, it only took senior attacker Megan Devlin (Marmora, NJ/Ocean City) 2:27 to set the tone of the game with a goal off an assist from Muller. Just about a minute later, the pair switched roles as Muller knocked in a tally of her own off a Devlin assist.

The Vikings made their first mark at 3:06 as Quinn Foley notched in a point to cut the Lion's lead to one.

However, the Lion duo of Devlin and Muller quickly struck again at 4:43 to make it 3-1 as Muller set up Devlin who grabbed the goal.

With 21:22 still remaining in the half, sophomore Emily Kratz (Robbinsville, NJ/Robbinsville) extended the lead to 4-0 after scoring on a free position shot. But Augustana continued to pressure TCNJ and answered swiftly with a goal about a minute later.

The Lions, however, forced Augustana to use a timeout at 12:57 following another snipe from Muller to put the Lions up, 5-2.

Despite the Viking's effort to regroup, Devlin drove in another assurance goal off a pass from graduate student Erin Waller (Washington Twp., NJ/ Washington Twp.). Just 10 seconds later, Devlin won the draw control to set up Muller for the Lion's seventh goal of the contest. Waller kept up the college's momentum, firing the ball into the Viking's net to close out the half, 8-2.

Following a goalie change for Augustana, the Vikings came out strong in the second half, opening it up with a tally from Olivia Mayer on a free position shot just 2:57 in.

But Muller silenced any Viking thoughts of a comeback, scoring her fourth point of the game. With 13:09 remaining in the critical match up, freshman Kathleen Jaeger (Whitehouse Station, NJ/Hunterdon Central) yielded another Lion point off an assist from junior Mia Blackman (Arlington, VA/Field School). Jaeger fired up TCNJ for the remainder of the game with two more goals and a final score from Muller completed the Lion's 13-3 victory.

Freshman goalie Miranda Chrone (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) made two saves in the triumph playing in front of a dominant TCNJ defense. Augustana's Jenna Hofmann and Analia Fowler recorded four saves each in the loss.

The game tomorrow between TCNJ and Trinity will be a rematch of last season's regional championship game. The Bantams advanced with a 10-5 victory.