Ewing, NJ … The College of New Jersey women's lacrosse suffered a tough 6-4 setback at the hands of defending national champion Middlebury College in a tremendous game on Monday night in Lions Stadium.
 
The #5 Panthers (6-1) scored the four unanswered goals over the final 15 minutes of play to wrestle away the victory from the second-ranked Lions (4-1). TCNJ was dominant in the opening half and held a 4-2 lead after freshman Alexandria Fitzpatrick (Burlington, NJ/Northern Burlington) tallied off a free position. But Middlebury held a 6-2 advantage on draw controls in the second half as leading scorer Mary O'Connell netted the game-tying and game-winning goals in the final six minutes.
 
The Lions on the board in the 13^th minute of play when rookie Allie Gorman (Sicklerville, NJ/Washington Twp.) took a feed from Fitzpatrick and found the back of the net. Junior Emily Kratz (Robbinsville, NJ/Robbinsville) extended the lead to 2-0 with her seventh goal of the season off an assist from Amanda Muller (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough). It marked the 100^th career point for Muller.
 
Trailing 2-0 in the final seconds of the first half, a scramble on a loose ball in front of the net resulted in a free position goal for Kate Zecca and the Panthers cut the lead in half.
 
Sophomore Kathleen Jaeger (Whitehouse Station, NJ/Hunterdon Central) scored a quick goal early in the second half of a Muller assist. O'Connell responded just over two minutes later with her first goal of the game.
 
Up 3-2, Fitzpatrick took a free position and deposited her second goal of the night to put the Lions up 4-2 with 16:06 remaining. The Panthers tallied four straight from that point, the final two coming with 2:34 and 1:30 to play.
 
TCNJ defender Brooke Lionetti (Malvern, Pa./Great Valley) picked up five ground balls in the game and caused two turnovers. Junior Elizabeth Morrison (Stonington, CT/Stonington) finished with three ground balls, caused three turnovers, and won a pair of draw controls. Sophomore Abby Flagler (Califon, NJ/Voorhees) also caused three Middlebury errors and picked up two ground balls. Goalkeeper Miranda Chrone (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) finished with a pair of saves, including an exceptional stop in the opening half.
 
Panther goalkeeper Kate Furber had an outstanding night, making 10 stops and corralling seven ground balls.
 
Middlebury got back into the win column after suffering its first defeat to Bowdoin College on Saturday, 11-10 in overtime. The meeting was the first between the two programs since 2007. The Lions and Panthers have squared off 10 times with tonight's being the first-ever regular season match-up.
 
The tough opponents continue for TCNJ this week. They will visit top-ranked Gettysburg College this Thursday for a 4:00 p.m. match.