EWING, N.J. – The No. 12 TCNJ women's soccer team bounced back from its first loss of the season in convincing fashion, getting goals from five different players in a 5-0 rout of Kean in NJAC action Saturday.
Jenny Ward,
Caroline Freer, and
Alyssa Alfano all found the back of the net alongside first-time goal scorers
Katie Naughton and
Anna Guido for the Lions (6-1-2, 1-1), who put the Cougars to the sword with a relentless offensive attack.
Ward got the fireworks started just 140 seconds after kickoff, picking off an errant pass and weaving her way into the left side of the box before sending a low shot past the Kean keeper for her team-leading fifth goal of the season.
Freer clanged a shot off the crossbar just a few minutes later, but would not be denied in the 20
th minute, when the senior collected a corner from
Samantha Rizzi and fired home for a 2-0 lead.
Naughton opened her collegiate account less than three minutes later, polishing off a sensational tic-tac-toe sequence with Ward and
Emily Weidner with a close-range conversion to extend the lead to 3-0 just beyond the midway point of the first half.
Alfano made it 4-0 with a sensational goal in the 58
th minute, receiving a pass from
Maddie Nolan at the top of the box and making a quick turn before sending a perfectly-placed shot past a diving Cougar keeper and into the bottom left corner of the net.
Guido grabbed her first career goal on the stroke of the hour, taking the space given to her by the defense and ripping a right-footed laser into the lower left corner of the netting from just outside the box.
Ellen Williams played the first 65 minutes in goal for the Lions before giving way to
Riley Fitzpatrick and
Madeline Dubler for the final 25 and change.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- TCNJ compiled a massive 35-2 advantage in shots, putting 11 of them on frame
- The Lions recorded 12 corners to the Cougars' three
- Thirty-one (31) different Lions saw the field on Saturday
STANDOUT LIONS
- Ward hit the back of the net for the third game in a row, extending her team-leading totals to five goals and 14 points, respectively, along with her fourth assist of the year
- Alfano grabbed her third goal of the season
- Freer scored for the second time this season, a new career high
- Rizzi made her first career start and registered her second assist of the campaign
- Williams saved the lone shot on target for the Cougars
NOTES
- Head coach Danny Blank picked up his 50th career win at TCNJ
- TCNJ has won the last 13 meetings with Kean
- Williams made her 50th career start between the pipes
- Corinne Russo earned her first career appearance in the starting XI
- Dubler and Fitzpatrick each made her collegiate debut in goal
UP NEXT
- The Lions host No. 25 Montclair State in a huge NJAC showdown on Wednesday, October 7
