EWING, N.J. – The No. 11 TCNJ lacrosse team raced to an 11-0 lead on its way to a 20-3 victory over FDU-Florham on Saturday. The Lions improved to 3-0 with the victory, while the Devils dropped to 1-3.
 
TCNJ now leads the all-time series 12-0.
 
The Lions took control of the game early, due to a 19-5 edge on the draw circle. Avery Sweeney grabbed a career-high nine draws, and Alexandria Fitzpatrick grabbed seven.
 
"We look at the draw as one of the most important plays in lacrosse," said Sweeney. "Every draw my focus is on the ball and doing whatever I can to beat the opponent."
 
Fitzpatrick opened the scoring for the Lions with a natural hat trick. Following a goal from Olivia Cleale, Kasey Donoghue found the back of the net four-straight times to push the TCNJ lead to 8-0.
 
With TCNJ leading 11-1, Erin Jaffe became the third Lion to score a natural hat trick in the game, putting TCNJ on top, 14-1, going into the break.
 
The Lions continued to score early in the second half. Cleale found Anna Devlin, who scored her first career goal, to start a 5-0 run to begin the half. Cleale finished with eight assists to bring her career total to 156, most of any active player in Division III.
 
Nikki Phillips, Sabrina Phillips, and Larissa Hatzold each had two caused turnovers to lead the defense. Nikki Phillips also led the Lions with three ground balls.
 
TCNJ hits the road for a game at Cabrini on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
 
"Being on the road is always fun," said Sweeney. "You get to take a bus ride with all of your teammates. Mentally, every game we come out the same way. We respect every opponent, and plan on coming out with the same energy that we have the first three games."