EWING, N.J. – The No. 10 TCNJ lacrosse team nearly came back from a multi-goal deficit in the final three minutes, but No. 5 Salisbury scored the go-ahead goal with 30 seconds remaining and escaped Ewing with a 10-9 victory in a top-10 thriller on Saturday.
 
Ally Tobler scored four goals, including the game-tying goal with 1:20 remaining, on a blustery afternoon at the TCNJ Lacrosse Complex as the Lions' bid for their first ranked win of the season came up agonizingly short.
 
FOR THE RECORD

• Salisbury improved to 10-3 overall, while TCNJ is 8-4

HOW IT HAPPENED

• TCNJ came out firing, taking a lead just 41 seconds after opening draw as CJ Kole deposited a free-position shot into the back of the cage
• The lead swelled to 3-0 with a quick-strike sequence in which Ally Tobler and Marissa Lucca scored 30 seconds apart, forcing Salisbury into a timeout at the 5:25 mark of the first
• The Sea Gulls needed 15 seconds to get on the board as Grace Doyle collected the ensuing draw and weaved through the defense for a goal to trim TCNJ's lead to 3-1
• Salisbury netted four goals in a row – two of them from Miranda Mears – to run its unanswered streak to five and secure a multi-goal advantage
• Natalie Berry put a free-position shot past Kaitlyn Hunsinger to stop the Sea Gulls' surge, only for Mears to complete her first-half hat-trick 48 seconds later
• Tobler tucked a shot into the net off a nice feed from Katherine Naiburg to get the Lions within 6-5 with 1:18 left in the half
• Like the first half, Kole was first on the board in the second with a woman-up tally to even things up at 6 about two minutes into the third quarter
• The teams traded a single goal until the end of the frame, with Tobler countering one from Leah Vilov to make it 7-7 with 3:21 showing
• Salisbury looked to take control with an early go-ahead goal in the fourth and tacked on another with 9:48 left to go up 9-7
• Still trailing by two with under three minutes left, Lucca put in an eight-meter shot to halve the deficit to one, and Tobler rifled a quick-fire shot past Hunsinger on an assist from Morgan Vaccaro to tie it once more at 9-9 with 1:20 left
• The Sea Gulls, however, won the ensuing draw and called timeout with 47 seconds left. They capitalized out of the break as Mary Hanzsche shoveled a low shot into the back of the cage with 30.7 ticks remaining to break the stalemate
• Salisbury won the next draw, but quickly turned it over to give the Lions one last prayer; Tobler sped upfield but had the ball stripped by All-American Natalie Held as the final seconds ticked off the clock

FOR THE FOES

• Mears led the Sea Gulls with four goals
• Vilov had two goals and one assist, and four players registered two points
• Held racked up five ground balls, three draws, and two caused turnovers
• Hunsinger finished with 11 saves

STANDOUT LIONS

• Tobler paced the Lions once more with four goals and added four draw controls
• Kole and Lucca scored two goals apiece
• Kileigh Pfluger anchored the defense with three caused turnovers
• Madison Wernik had a game-high five draw controls to go with a caused turnover
• Julia Charest collected eight saves

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• TCNJ outshot Salisbury, 27-23
• The Sea Gulls held a slim 12-11 edge in draw controls, winning 9 of the last 10 in the game
• Salisbury committed 17 turnovers to 14 for the Lions
• The Sea Gulls were 3-for-4 on free-position shots, while TCNJ finished 4-for-9

NOTES

• Tobler moved into a tie for 6^th in program history with 204 career goals and eclipsed 100 career draw controls
• Naiburg is now just one point from 100 for her career
• Charest jumped two spots to 6^th in career saves with 318

UP NEXT

• The women's lacrosse team hosts No. 24 Colorado College on Thursday