ANNVILLE, Pa. – Katherine Naiburg's career day headlined a dominant all-around road opener for the No. 3 TCNJ women's lacrosse team on Saturday as the Lions came back from Lebanon Valley with a 19-4 victory in tow.
Naiburg went off for a career-high four goals and tacked on two assists for the Lions (2-0), who will not play away from home again until March 29.
Jillian Westerby (2 goals, 3 assists),
Anna Devlin (4 goals), and
Ally Tobler (3 goals, 1 assist) all registered at least four points for TCNJ.
The Dutchmen (1-2) played with pluckiness, scoring the game's first goal and playing the Lions within a one-goal margin until midway through the second quarter. TCNJ led just 4-3 after a Lebanon Valley marker at the 8:36 mark before reeling off 15 consecutive goals and holding the hosts off the scoreboard until only 4:05 remained in the game.
Westerby ignited a stretch of four goals in just over two minutes with her first of the afternoon, and Devlin netted back-to-back tallies in one-minute intervals before Tobler made it 8-3 on a feed from Naiburg. The prolific junior added another about a minute later, and
Anna Wright capped the first-half scoring with an unassisted goal to extend the lead to 10-3.
Westerby scored 33 seconds after the break and, after a goal by
Morgan Vaccaro, Tobler opened up a double-digit spread and a running clock at the 8:39 mark of the third.
Naiburg then went wild, netting four consecutive goals bridging the third-quarter break, reaching a new career high in goals all in a little more than 10 minutes of game time. The hat-trick was the second of her career.
Veronika O'Donnell netted her first of the year with 8:51 remaining, and
Emily Ingram deposited the second of her career to cap TCNJ's offensive output with 6:53 to play.
TCNJ outshot the Dutchmen, 37-12, and rolled to a 19-7 advantage in draw controls with
Sabrina Phillips (7), Devlin (6), and Westerby (5) leading the way.
Sydney Sieja, who played field hockey in the fall, scored her first career goal on a feed from Tobler to put the Lions in front, 4-2, in the early stages of the second stanza.
Julia Charest produced five saves in the first three quarters before giving way to
Hailey Wexler, who played the entire fourth period.
The Lions open up an extended six-game home stand on Wednesday against Cabrini. Opening draw is set for 3:30 p.m.