EWING, N.J. – Kelly Nevins and Abbie Teefy enjoyed career-best games on the same day, combining for 11 goals as the No. 18 TCNJ women's lacrosse team opened NJAC play with a 14-4 victory over Montclair State on Wednesday.
 
Nevins netted a career-high six goals – all of them in the game's first 16 minutes and change – and Teefy put up a personal-best five to preserve the Lions' six-game unbeaten streak at home. TCNJ (8-1, 1-0) also extended its regular-season conference winning streak to 25 games since an upset at the hands of the Red Hawks in 2021. 
 
Defensively, five players caused at least two turnovers to limit the Red Hawks (3-4, 0-1) to a single goal in each frame.
 
Nevins dented the scoreboard 13 seconds after opening draw and never slowed down in the opening quarter and change, quickly doubling the hosts' advantage 48 seconds later.
 
Teefy sandwiched a pair of goals around the opener for Montclair, and Nevins embarked on her next personal assault on the cage. The sophomore scored twice in a span of 81 seconds, one on an assist from Emily Potenza, to extend the TCNJ lead to 6-1 after one quarter of play.
 
Nevins also got the scoring started in the second, her fifth goal of the afternoon coming at the 13:38 mark and completing her personal three-goal run.
 
Marissa Lucca got on the board two minutes later, and after the Red Hawks scored to clip the margin to 8-2 it was Teefy, Nevins, and Ashly Herlihy hitting the back of the cage to give the blue and gold an 11-2 advantage at the break.
 
Montclair briefly stalled the Lions' quest for a double-digit lead by scoring the first goal of the second half, but the visitors didn't score again for more than 28 minutes. The Lions didn't score much either, but goals by Teefy and Lucca started a running clock with a 13-3 lead at the 3:52 mark of the third. Teefy added a fifth goal to her ledger for good measure with 2:22 remaining.
 
Hailey Wexler made five saves to just three goals allowed in three quarters of play. Kylie Kurtz posted a pair of saves in the first 10 minutes of the fourth quarter, and Jordyn Landman saw out the final 5:19.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• TCNJ held a 29-22 advantage in shots
• The Lions picked up 21 ground balls to the Red Hawks' 13
• Montclair won the draw control battle, 11-8, but committed 24 turnovers to TCNJ's 18
• The Red Hawks were 0-for-4 on free-position shots, while TCNJ was 2-of-5

STANDOUT LIONS

• Nevins scored on six of her seven shots
• Teefy matched Nevins with seven shots and added a pair of draw controls
• Lucca paired two goals with two assists, also adding five ground balls, two caused turnovers, and two draws
• Potenza finished with two assists in addition to two caused turnovers and a pair of draw controls
• Meghan Hogan coupled three caused turnovers with three ground balls
• Herlihy caused three turnovers in addition to her goal
• Abby Williams had four ground balls, two draw controls, and a caused turnover

NOTES

• Lucca moved into a tie for 22^nd in program history with 154 career goals
• Potenza is now tied for 20^th all-time with 54 caused turnovers
• Williams' 28 caused turnovers are already tied for 13^th in a single season
• Kurtz notched the first saves of her career

UP NEXT

• TCNJ heads to Farmingdale State on Saturday