EWING, N.J. – With one massive run, the TCNJ women's lacrosse team turned a coronary into a coronation.
 
The top-seeded Lions reeled off seven unanswered goals in the fourth quarter of Saturday's NJAC championship game, breaking through a stiff challenge from second-seeded Rowan to seize their 14^th consecutive conference crown with a scintillating 16-12 victory on their home turf.
 
The 13^th-ranked Lions (14-4) clinched the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, while No. 23 Rowan dropped to 15-3 – two of those losses coming at the hands of TCNJ – will earn an at-large berth.
 
For three quarters and more the two sides went back and forth, and Rowan went into the final frame with an 11-9 lead and a real chance to deny the Lions a conference title for the first time since 2010. Then TCNJ's stars took over.
 
Marissa Lucca started the game-turning blitz with a free-position goal, and CJ Kole gave the Lions the lead for good with back-to-back goals on stunning individual efforts, the second making it 12-11 with 9:36 remaining. The run was hardly over.
 
Ally Tobler took over from there, scoring two straight goals to put the game to bed. She wheeled around a defender and fired a low shot past Rowan goalie Mel Rodgers, then dunked a Lucca pass through contact only 36 seconds later to make it 14-11.
 
Lucca then put up back-to-back goals, the last coming with 2:21 remaining, to cap the stunning 7-0 spurt and make the last two minutes and change a formality.
 
Rowan had a pair of three-goal runs in the first half, the second of which turned a 3-3 deadlock after one quarter into a seemingly commanding 6-3 advantage early in the second. But back came the Lions with a four-goal burst of their own as Tobler, Kole, and Lucca all hit the twine in a span of one minute to make it 6-6.
 
Veronica Campbell's goal 85 seconds later gave TCNJ its first lead since 1-0, and the Lions took an 8-7 edge into intermission on a tally from Ava Steinmetz.
 
Rowan, however, scored the first three goals of the third quarter to go in front, 10-8, before Tobler stopped the bleeding with a historic goal. The fifth-year's unassisted marker with 2:56 left in the third made her just the 14^th player in Division III history to reach 300 career goals.
 
The Profs answered a minute later off the stick of Corson, seizing a two-goal lead before the fateful last frame unfolded.
 
FOR THE FOES

• Elaina Corson racked up five goals and two assists
• Calista Burke had three goals and an assist, and Alexis Lowry logged two goals and one assist
• Sophia Schiavo caused four turnovers and produced four draw controls

STANDOUT LIONS

• Tobler was incredible, pairing five goals with two assists alongside seven ground balls and five caused turnovers
• Lucca matched Tobler's line with five goals and a pair of helpers
• Kole scored three goals and posted five draw controls
• Campbell scored two goals in addition to five draws and four grounders
• Ashly Herlihy led the defenders with four caused turnovers and three ground balls
• Julia Charest finished with 11 saves, seven of them in the first half

NOTES

• Tobler is the third active Division III with 300-plus goals for their career
• Tobler's 78 goals this season are 4^th-most in single-season school history, as are her 114 draw controls
• Charest matched Gina Carey '93 for second all-time with her 59^th career win
• Lucca's 110 points are sixth in a single season in TCNJ history
• The Lions have beaten Rowan in the NJAC final in each of the last four seasons

UP NEXT

• TCNJ finds out its NCAA Tournament matchup during the selection show on NCAA.com at 10:30 a.m. Monday