MONTCLAIR, N.J. – Mackenzie Hart's hat-trick and a multi-goal effort from
Julia Neff powered the No. 21 TCNJ field hockey team to a 6-0 blowout at Montclair State in NJAC action on Saturday afternoon.
Hart continued her red-hot stretch of recent play with her first career hat-trick, scoring each of the first two goals as the Lions (9-4, 3-1) cruised to their latest conference rout. TCNJ found the back of the cage once in each of the first three quarters and added a trio of goals in the fourth to post their third league win by a margin of at least six markers.
The blue and gold only had four shots in the first half, but Hart accounted for goals on half of them. Both were assisted by
Jadyn Huff – the first came with 5:52 to go in the first quarter before she doubled the Lions' advantage with 8:25 left before intermission.
Neff got going after the break, punching in her first goal of the season with 3:56 remaining in the third. She added another for good measure early in the fourth quarter, and Hart capped her hat-trick just 81 seconds later.
Hart has scored six goals in her last three games, and has a point in each of her last five appearances.
Kara Wilson polished off the Lions' six-pack of goals with 5:55 remaining, finishing a feed from Neff.
TCNJ was suffocating defensively, allowing just three off-target shots all day, though the Lions did catch a break when the Red Hawks (4-9, 2-2) rang a shot off the post in the third quarter. The Lions preserved the shutout by withstanding a pair of penalty corners with time expired.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- TCNJ held a 15-3 advantage in shots and put all of them on target
- Corners were 8-4 in favor of the Lions
- The Lions' 15 shots were clustered among five players: Neff (5), Hart (3), Rachael Tetzlaff (3), Huff (2), and Wilson (2)
NOTES
- TCNJ posted its second-largest margin of victory in the series, trailing only a 7-0 rout in 2004
- Huff extended her team-leading assist total to eight
- Hart matched Wilson for the team lead in goals (10) and upped her career tally to 20
- Racey tallied her 13th career solo shutout
UP NEXT
- The Lions head to Stockton for an NJAC matchup next Wednesday
