MONTCLAIR, N.J. – Four different players netted hat-tricks and the No. 11 TCNJ women's lacrosse team fended off a stiff challenge from Montclair State for a 16-15 victory in Saturday's NJAC opener.
Marissa Lucca dished out four assists to go with her three goals and
Ally Tobler racked up 13 draw controls – one shy of the single-game program record – alongside three goals and three helpers for the Lions (8-2, 1-0).
TCNJ led 15-10 entering the fourth quarter, only for the Red Hawks (6-4, 0-1) to mount a rally and get within a single goal with 2:25 still on the clock.
Ashly Herlihy controlled the ensuing draw, and a yellow card on the Red Hawks allowed the Lions to run off the rest of the timer and leave with a hard-fought conference road win in tow.
The Lions never trailed, but never quite managed to put the game out of reach either. Tied at 3 late in the first,
Veronica Campbell and Lucca scored 18 seconds apart to put TCNJ ahead to stay, and markers from
Kelly Nevins and
CJ Kole extended the advantage to 7-3 early in the second.
After Montclair got the lead down to 9-7 in the third, Campbell scored on a feed from
Gabriella Roosa to make it 10-7. Tobler fed Lucca for a goal before scoring nine seconds later off the ensuing draw, giving the Lions a five-goal cushion (12-7).
The blue and gold maintained that margin into the fourth, which began with the Red Hawks trailing 15-10. The hosts got back in it with a three-goal run, but Roosa stopped the bleeding with a big goal off an assist from Tobler to make it 16-13. Montclair scored nine seconds later and pulled within 16-15 with a chance to tie, but never got the ball back.
FOR THE FOES
- Chelsea Stack had a goal and a game-high five assists
- Lexi Robinson (4G) and Amra Lukovic (2G/2A) had four points apiece
- Norah Monaghan finished with two goals, an assist, and eight draw controls
- Joey Grotkopf racked up 15 saves
STANDOUT LIONS
- Lucca led the way with seven points
- Tobler paired three goals with three assists and was one off Anna Devlin's program record of 14 draw controls
- Campbell (3G/1A) and Roosa (2G/2A) finished with four points each; Campbell also had five draw controls and a pair of caused turnovers
- Kole had three goals, and Nevins netted a pair
- Julia Charest finished with 10 saves
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- TCNJ held a slight edge in shots (37-35) and held a 21-14 advantage in draw controls
- Montclair had 18 ground balls to 14 for the Lions
- The Red Hawks turned it over 20 times compared to 17 for TCNJ
NOTES
- Kole's third goal marked her 100th career point
- Tobler moved into sole possession of 3rd on the program's all-time charts with 323 points and also eclipsed 200 career draw controls
UP NEXT
- The Lions host Kean on Wednesday
