EWING, N.J. – Rachael Tetzlaff refused to let the TCNJ field hockey team's season end. Thanks to her two-way heroics, the Lions are back in the NJAC championship game.  
 
Tetzlaff made a pair of crucial defensive saves, including one in the fourth quarter with the game tied, to become the program's all-time leader before setting up Isabel Maher's game-winning goal with less than two minutes to play as the second-seeded Lions shook off a strong challenge from third-seeded Stockton to post a thrilling 2-1 victory in the NJAC semifinals on Wednesday.
 
Maher's goal – a deflection off Tetzlaff's rocket shot from the top of the circle – punched TCNJ's ticket to the NJAC final for the fourth straight year. The Lions will head to top-seeded Rowan – a 5-1 winner over Kean in the other semifinal – on Saturday for a rematch of the last three conference championships.
 
TCNJ (13-5) took advantage of an early Stockton yellow card, opening the scoring on a goal with just a few seconds remaining on the player advantage as Julia Neff was there to shuffle home the rebound after Erika Roura had stopped Jadyn Huff's shot from the top of the circle with a diving save. The sophomore's third goal of the season staked the Lions to a 1-0 lead with 6:56 to go in the first quarter.
 
The score stayed right there until well into the fourth quarter, but not without some near misses. Stockton's Jessica Bruther fired just wide of an open cage early in the third, and Huff's mazy run ended in a sprawling save by Roura on the other end. Brigitte Racey stoned a pair of Kirsten Bailey shots, the first a laser off a corner and the other a kick save early in the fourth quarter with her raised right foot.
 
The Ospreys (11-9) pulled even with 6:50 to go on a hard back-hander by Carlee Thompson, and nearly took a shock lead inside of four minutes, only for Tetzlaff to bat away a redirected shot at the right post to keep the game level.
 
In the end, a set piece proved the difference. Neff inserted the corner to Tetzlaff, who fired a hard shot into traffic in front of the cage, where Maher managed to deftly redirect into the back of the cage with 1:49 to go. The Ospreys were unable to get off another shot as the Lions saw out the remaining time to move on to another NJAC final.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• TCNJ led the Ospreys 16-7 in shots and 11-5 in shots on goal
• Both teams attempted six corners, with the Ospreys holding a 6-2 edge after halftime
• Erika Roura finished with nine saves for Stockton

STANDOUT LIONS

• Huff matched Neff with a game-high five shots, all but one of them going on frame
• Neff was a menace down the left side of the field, racking up four shots – three on goal – in the first quarter alone
• Mackenzie Hart finished with three shots
• Racey recorded two saves

NOTES

• TCNJ improved to 22-2 all-time against Stockton
• Only a sophomore, Tetzlaff moved past Lexi Smith '17 and into the top spot on TCNJ's all-time list with 15 defensive saves
• Tetzlaff has four games with multiple defensive saves this season, and her nine for the year are tied for second-most in school history with Smith (2016) and Jennifer Maholland (1996); the single-season mark is 11 by Lisa DeFeo in 2000
• Tetzlaff also has a point in four of her last five games

UP NEXT

• TCNJ heads to Rowan for the NJAC championship game on Saturday; it will be the teams' fourth consecutive meeting in the conference final