SALISBURY, Md. - The 12th-ranked TCNJ women's lacrosse team was held to a season-low five goals in its matchup against Salisbury Saturday afternoon, falling 9-5 to the sixth-ranked Sea Gulls in the Lions' penultimate non-conference game.
 
Salisbury (10-3) scored the first three goals of the afternoon before the Lions (9-3, 2-0 NJAC) finally got on the board via an Ally Tobler free-position score with 4:07 left in the first quarter. The Sea Gulls would strike again to take a 4-1 lead into the first break before once again opening the second with another 3-0 run to build their advantage to 7-1.
 
Marissa Lucca and Tobler sandwiched halftime with a pair of goals – Lucca's coming with a player advantage while Tobler scored on the opening possession of the second half – to trim the lead to four, but the remainder of the quarter belonged to Salisbury, which rebuilt its lead to six following goals by Alexandra Parker and Grace Doyle.
 
The Lions outscored the Sea Gulls 2-0 in the fourth on goals by Lucca and CJ Kole, but the deficit was too much to overcome in a 9-5 loss on the road.
 
FOR THE FOES

• Doyle finished with a game-high four goals.
• Parker (2G/1A) and Audrey Harrington (1G/2A) also secured multi-point games.

STANDOUT LIONS

• Tobler finished with two goals, two assists and five draw controls to lead the Lions.
• Ashley Herlihy tied her career-high with four caused turnovers.
• Kate Martinek set a new career-high with four ground balls to pace TCNJ.
• Julia Charest was strong between the pipes, saving 12 of the 21 shots she faced.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Salisbury held a 29-15 advantage in shots and a 17-8 advantage in shots on goal.
• The Lions converted on 16 of their 19 clear attempts while the Sea Gulls were good on 22-23.
• TCNJ won the draw control battle, holding a narrow 10-8 advantage.

NOTES

• Lucca now sits two goals away from 100 for her career.

UP NEXT

• The Lions return to NJAC play for a game against Ramapo Wednesday, April 16, with opening draw set for 6 p.m.