EWING, N.J. – The No. 12 TCNJ women's lacrosse team got off to a quick start against top-ranked Middlebury, but the energetic opening and a sensational performance from goalkeeper Julia Charest was not enough to prevent the defending national champions from pulling away for an 18-7 victory on Wednesday.
 
Reigning National Player of the Year Hope Shue poured in eight goals for the Panthers (7-0), who have won the last three Division III titles and extended their regular-season winning streak to 47 games.
 
It wasn't a rosy start for the visitors. The Lions (4-1) came out with a fire and grabbed a 2-0 lead after five minutes on goals by Ally Tobler and Abbie Teefy.
 
The Panthers got one back off the stick of Shue, but Tobler won the ensuing draw and scored 24 seconds later on a feed from Marissa Lucca to give the blue and gold a 3-1 advantage.
 
Middlebury countered with three unanswered goals in less than a minute to take its first lead, but CJ Kole controlled the draw and raced past a defender one-on-one before slipping a bouncing shot between the legs of the Panthers goalie to even the spread at 4-4.
 
Lucca got on the board with a terrific individual move, shaking free of her defender with a spin move and fake before bouncing one into the back of the cage for a 5-4 lead. Caroline Adams netted a power-play goal with 3:04 to go in the first, and the teams ended a frenetic first frame knotted at 5-5.
 
Middlebury went ahead for good on a goal by Shue with 11:12 to go in the second quarter, and the Panthers tacked on two more before the break to take an 8-5 lead into halftime. It could have been much more if not for Charest, who racked up seven saves in the second stanza alone; that included a remarkable sequence late in the period in which she made three separate stops, two of them from right on the doorstep.
 
Middlebury scored the first three goals of the second half to extend its advantage to 11-5 before Tobler ended a scoring drought of over 25 minutes with a free-position marker at the 7:56 mark.
 
The Panthers, however, went on another 3-0 mini-run to go up by eight before Tobler finished a Lucca feed on a beautiful passing sequence in the closing seconds of the third, bringing TCNJ to within 14-7.
 
Middlebury got two more goals from Shue and kept the Lions off the board in the fourth.
 
Charest was terrific between the pipes, equaling her career high with 15 saves.
 
FOR THE FOES

• Shue had eight goals on 12 shots and added six draw controls
• Maggie Coughlin paired four assists with two goals
• Adams had two goals and two assists to go with seven draws

STANDOUT LIONS

• Tobler led the Lions with four goals and matched Adams with a game-high seven draw controls
• Lucca paired a goal with two assists
• Kole notched five draw controls
• Veronica Campbell was effective as a defender, racking up four caused turnovers and three ground balls
• Meghan Hogan scooped up three grounders
• Charest matched her career high with 15 saves

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Middlebury held a 45-17 shot advantage, including 37-8 after the first quarter
• TCNJ committed 19 turnovers compared to eight for the Panthers
• Middlebury had a 25-14 edge in ground balls
• TCNJ played Middlebury nearly to a stalemate in the draw circle, trailing just 15-14 in that category
• The Lions were 3-for-3 on free-position attempts

NOTES

• Charest moved past Belinda Warrick (1994-96) and Miranda Chrone (2016-19) and into third on the program's all-time saves list with 392 and counting
• Charest also had 15 saves against Middlebury last year, and versus Colorado College in 2023
• Tobler now sits just four points away from 300 for her career

UP NEXT

• TCNJ hosts No. 21 Chicago on Friday at 4 p.m.