WASHINGTON, D.C. – The dynamic duo of Claire Engebreth and Jadyn Huff was unstoppable in Sunday's season opener, powering the No. 19 TCNJ field hockey team to a resounding 5-0 shutout at Catholic.
 
Huff netted a hat-trick with three goals – the first of her career – and Engebreth scored one goal and assisted on all three Huff markers for the Lions, who took full control after an uneventful first period in which TCNJ managed the game's lone shot.
 
The visitors put up their second shot around the 9-minute mark of the second stanza, and it was an all-out assault from there. TCNJ broke through with 2:45 left in the period slapped home a long shot off Engebreth's corner insert, and Engebreth got herself on the board off a helper from Emma McElroy with 55 seconds remaining to stake the blue and gold to a 2-0 lead at the break.
 
Huff wasted little time getting back into the scoring column, firing into the back of the cage less than three minutes after intermission following a corner insert from Engebreth. She polished off her hat-trick less than a minute in the fourth with another assist from Engebreth, who secured a third assist to match.
 
Bella DiNardo put a bow on the proceedings with a goal that just beat the final buzzer.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The Lions racked up 23 shots and put 18 of them on target while limiting Catholic to just two shots; TCNJ had 10 shots in the second quarter alone
• TCNJ attempted 15 corners to the Cardinals' seven
• Huff led all players with eight shots (six on goal), while Engebreth fired off four (three on cage) and DiNardo and McElroy notched three apiece

NOTES

• Huff marked not only her first career hat-trick, but her first career goals
• McElroy's assist was her first career point
• Engebreth established a new career high with three assists and how has 12 for her career
• Brigitte Racey made the only save she needed for her fourth career shutout
• Rookies Ali Simmons, Rachael Tetzlaff, and Avery Vacca were all in the starting lineup for their TCNJ debuts, and Heather Kimak made her first start in two years
• TCNJ dominated a Catholic opponent that had given it trouble in recent years; the Cardinals win in double-OT in Ewing last year, and the previous three encounters had been decided by a single goal

UP NEXT

• The Lions welcome DeSales to the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex on Friday for the home opener