EWING, N.J –The TCNJ football team returned to Lions Stadium for its first home game in 662 days on Saturday. The Lions fell to SUNY Cortland by a final score of 49-6.

TCNJ's defense forced a fumble late in the first quarter. Gavin Liepe came flying off the edge and stripped the ball from Cortland quarterback Brees Segala. Chris McCormack jumped on the fumble to give the ball back to TCNJ.

The turnover turned into points for TCNJ, as Bobby Wortman drilled a long 46-yard field goal a few minutes later. That is only five yards shy of TCNJ's longest field goal, a 51-yarder kicked by Matt Hamilton in 2000.

TCNJ forced another turnover on the Red Dragons' next possession. Kevin Pennell hit Segala as he threw, and the errant pass was intercepted by Malin Jasinski. Jasinski spun out of a tackle then returned it 15 yards to the Cortland 40-yard line. Wortman tacked on another field goal, this time a 35-yarder to make it a 6-0 lead.

The Red Dragons took the lead with a Segala touchdown pass after the next drive. Segala tallied three touchdowns in the first half to give SUNY Cortland a 21-6 lead heading into the break.

Starting at quarterback for TCNJ was John Donegan, who went 19-30 for 127 yards. Joey Bellamy Jr. made three catches for 34 yards, while Thomas Burke caught two for 22 yards. Max Hayford tallied three receptions for 20 yards and Lucas Spitzer added three catches for 19 yards.

Liepe and Cole Groschel led the TCNJ defense with six tackles each, and Liepe added the strip sack. Sal Tardogno and Jared Lyles each made five stops, while Nick Celli added three tackles including a sack.

The Lions held Military & First Responder Appreciation Day to honor the remembrance of September 11^th, 2001. TCNJ recognized local first responders and military members during a halftime ceremony.

The Lions are on the bye next week and will return to action for a road game at Nichols College on Sept. 25.