EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ football team wrapped up a successful first season under new head coach Tyler Moody with a hard-fought 27-7 loss to No. 7 Christopher Newport on Friday night.
 
After a pregame Senior Night ceremony in recognition of their 25 members of the Class of 2026, fellow seniors Joe Visaggio and Bill Westerby turned in terrific performances as the Lions (6-4, 3-4) stayed in it until well into the fourth quarter. Visaggio rushed for 104 yards and a touchdown, while Westerby racked up 12 tackles, a sack, and a pair of forced fumbles to spearhead a defense that limited the high-powered Captains to their lowest point and yardage totals of the season.
 
CNU (10-0, 7-0), already the NJAC champion thanks to a win over Salisbury last weekend, needed more than a quarter and a half to dent the scoreboard. Senior Dave Giulian stacked up Gunner White for a loss of a yard on 4^th-and-goal from the 1 as TCNJ continued to frustrate the prolific Captains, who had scored at least 42 points in every game before Friday.
 
A short field thanks to a long punt return, though, set CNU up inside the red zone to start their next possession, and Zavier Kennedy's 2-yard touchdown run finally ended the scoreless stalemate with 7:20 left before halftime.
 
Another long punt return by Noah Martin after a TCNJ three-and-out gave the Captains the ball at the plus-27, and they needed just two plays to score as Josh Powell took a pop pass from Connor Barry and sprinted in for an 11-yard touchdown.
 
TCNJ got its offense going on the last possession of the half, picking up a fourth down near midfield on a carry by Visaggio and driving down to the CNU 18, but Tim Willever's field goal was blocked as time expired.
 
A 53-yard pass from Barry to Colin Hart preceded a 2-yard keeper for a score by Barry to make it 21-0 after the opening possession of the second half, but the Lions' defense stood tall from there. Westerby ended the next CNU trip with a strip-sack, with fellow senior Darian Ghahary falling on the fumble for a turnover.
 
The Captains had to punt their next two times with the ball, and the Lions got on the board on Visaggio's 17-yard touchdown run up the middle to cap a 10-play, 80-yard march with 10:44 left in the fourth.
 
Seniors Christian Bennett and Dylan Patscher combined to stuff White on fourth down inside the TCNJ 30, giving the Lions the ball down 14. A fourth-down drop, however, ended the next drive, and White scored on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Barry to put the game away with 1:54 to go.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• CNU finished with a 334-216 edge in total offense
• The Captains were just 4-of-12 on third down, but picked up 4-of-5 fourth down tries
• Barry, who came in top-5 in the nation in touchdown passes and yards, was 18-fo-26 for 201 yards and two TDs
• Hart, one of the nation's most prolific receivers, had seven catches for 101 yards

STANDOUT LIONS

• Visaggio had 104 yards on 18 carries, his third game with 100-plus rushing yards this season
• Andrew Spano added 38 yards on 11 rushes
• Senior Ryan Gill had a 25-yard reception, while classmate Erik Garv finished with three receptions for 24 yards
• Dean Licari was 4-of-8 for 49 yards and added 24 rushing yards in his final collegiate start at QB
• Westerby (12) and Bennett (11) combined for 23 tackles
• Giulian had 1.5 tackles for loss among his eight stops and registered three QB hurries
• Patscher had five tackles and blocked an extra point, while Jameson Sessa posted a pair of TFLs

NOTES

• TCNJ finished 6-4 for the second straight season, marking back-to-back winning campaigns for the first time since a four-year run from 2001 to 2004
• Visaggio had 12 rushing touchdowns in 2025, just one off the single-season program record
• Gill finished his career with 79 receptions for 1,363 yards and 11 touchdowns; he led the Lions in both catches (12) and yards (260) in 2025
• Giulian wraps up his stellar career ninth in program history with 217 total tackles, including 20.5 for loss
• Westerby (155) and Patscher (145) combined for 300 tackles in their careers
• Sessa ended with 29.0 career tackles for loss to go with 14.5 sacks
• Kurc eclipsed 100 tackles for his career, which also included 11 interceptions
• Garv was second on the team in both receptions (11) and yards (219) as a senior