Washington, DC… The College of New Jersey Field Hockey team took to the field for the first time Saturday afternoon. The Lions showed why they were ranked number six entering the year, cruising to a 7-1 victory over Catholic University. TCNJ moves to 1-0 on the season, while the Cardinals fall to 0-1.
 
Junior Taylor Barrett (Neshanic Station, NJ/Hunterdon Central) opened the scoring just over 11 minutes into the game scoring off a penalty corner on an assist from classmate Sidney Padilla (Suffern, NY/Suffern). Barrett scored again later in the first half, punching in a rebound to extend the Lions advantage to two.
 
Freshman Tori Tiefenthaler (Freehold, NJ/Biotechnology/Freehold Borough) continued the scoring with her first collegiate goal coming off a feed from Elizabeth Morrison (Stonington, CT/Stonington). Tiefenthaler scored again late in the first half on a penalty corner with junior Jackie Schwartz (Toms River, NJ/Toms River East) providing the assist to give TCNJ a 4-0 lead that they would take into the half.
 
The Lions picked up right where they left off in the second half. Padilla fired a long pass that Schwartz simply tapped into the net to push the advantage to five.
 
Rachel Day responded for the Cardinals, redirecting a long pass to put Catholic on the board.
 
Padilla and Morrison each found the goal column to produce the final score.
 
Senior Christina Fabiano (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills) made three saves to earn the victory.
 
TCNJ outshot Catholic 24 to seven and earned 15 penalty corners to the Cardinals five.
 
The Lions will be on the road again September 7, when they travel to Stevens Institute of Technology. The game is scheduled for 7:00 PM.