Ewing, NJ … The College of New Jersey women's lacrosse team registered a 15-3 victory over Neumann University in its 2017 season opener on Saturday in Lions Stadium.
 
The Lions (1-0) were led by five goals from senior Mia Blackman (Arlington, Va./Field School) and four from sophomore Kathleen Jaeger (Whitehouse Station, NJ/Hunterdon Central). Junior Elizabeth Morrison (Stonington, CT/Stonington) won nine draw controls and picked up four ground balls at the defensive end.
 
TCNJ jumped out to an 11-2 lead in the opening half. It took only 22 seconds for the Lions to get on the scoreboard. Junior Emily Kratz (Robbinsville, NJ/Robbinsville) took a pass on the left side, darted towards the goal, spun around a defender, and rippled the back of the net in the lower right corner for the first goal of the season.
 
Jaeger tallied back-to-back goals just under three minutes apart to extend the lead to 3-0. Goals by Erin Harvey (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) and Amanda Muller (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough) made it a 5-0 game in the opening 10 minutes.
 
Neumann's Kaitlyn Conrad put the Knights on the board with a goal in 12^th minute off of a free position. TCNJ responded with six unanswered goals, three of which came from the stick of Blackman. Senior attacker Diana Caicedo scored the second goal of the contest for the Knights with three seconds left on the clock before the half.
 
The Lions tacked on four more goals in the second half. Blackman scored a pair, Kratz netted her third, and freshman Chloe Pottillo (Woodsbury, NJ/Camden Catholic) notched her first collegiate goal.
 
Sophomore goalie Miranda Chrone (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) made a save in net for her first win, while freshman Alexa Natalicchio (New Egypt, NJ/Notre Dame) played the final 30 minutes in goal for TCNJ.
 
TCNJ is back in Lions Stadium next Saturday when they host FDU-Florham at 1 p.m.