Madison, N.J. … The College of New Jersey field hockey team traveled to Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham this evening and clipped the Devils by a score of 4-3. The victory raised the 11th-ranked Lions record to 5-3 overall this season.

Lexi Smith (Florence, NJ/Florence Township) got TCNJ on the board first, just over eleven minutes into the game. She collected the ball near the FDU-Florham 20 yard line, drove down the end line and to the net where she shot past the goalie.

Smith made the score 2-0 ten minutes later on a corner play. Caroline Quinn (Allendale, NJ/Northern Highlands) passed the ball to the top of the circle, Smith then went around a defender and took a hard shot that found the opposite corner of the net.

The Devils (5-4) got a goal of their own three minutes into the second half from Chrissy Penney. Five minutes later, Kim Davis tied the game 2-2.

TCNJ regained the lead when Elizabeth Morrison (Stonington, CT/Stonington) passed the ball to a waiting Jaclyn Douglas (Malvern, PA/Great Valley) in front of the net. Douglas swept the ball past the goalie to make it 3-2 in favor of the Lions.

With time winding down, FDU-Florham continued to battle and tied it up with a goal from Davis.

Smith competed a hat trick when she recorded the eventual game-winner and put the Lions back up 4-3. With less than six minutes remaining in regulation, she received the ball at the top of the circle off a corner, dribbled around the defense and fired a shot into the back of the cage.

Christina Fabiano (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills) got the start in net and made one save throughout the contest.

The Lions are back in action on Saturday, October 1 when they welcome William Paterson University for an New Jersey Athletic Conference contest. The game is slated for a 1 p.m. start in Lions Stadium.