MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – The TCNJ lacrosse team saw its 2023 season end on a cloudy Saturday at Middlebury College, falling 14-9 to Colby in the third round of the NCAA Tournament. Ally Tobler scored four goals to pace the TCNJ offense, and Katherine Naiburg added two more scores.
TCNJ never led in the game, and the first quarter proved to be the difference in the contest. Colby finished the first with a 5-1 lead, and the Mules never trailed. The game was also only tied at 1-1 after Anna Wright's tally with 7:43 remaining in the period.
The second quarter was much kinder to TCNJ as the Lions finished the first half on a 4-1 run to pull the game to within 7-5 at the half. Naiburg scored twice in a span of just 1:32 to cut the Colby lead to 6-3. Anna Devlin and Toble each scored in the final two minutes of the half to get the Lions to within two goals at the intermission.
Julia Charest made four of her 10 saves in the second quarter as the Lions drew closer. Hailey Wexler came in relief late in the third quarter and added seven more saves of her own.
Colby expanded its lead to 11-7 by the end of the third quarter, scoring four times around goals by Tobler and Morgan Vaccaro.
Tobler scored twice in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough for TCNJ to pull off the comeback.
Devlin finished with five draw controls, giving her 130 for the season. That broke her own TCNJ record of 128 last season. Her 345 career draw controls are also a program record.
TCNJ advanced to the Round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the 38th consecutive season.
