EWING, N.J. – The No. 18 TCNJ women's lacrosse team's remarkable defensive effort came up just short in a hard-fought 6-4 loss at the hands of No. 4 Salisbury on Saturday.
 
One of five seniors honored postgame on Senior Day, fifth-year goalie Hailey Wexler matched her career-high with 13 saves in a spectacular performance to keep the Lions (10-2) neck-and-neck with one of the three remaining unbeaten programs in Division III.
 
Marissa Lucca (1 goal, 2 assists), Sydney Sieja (3 ground balls, 1 caused turnover), and Meghan Hogan (1 caused turnover) all made significant impacts on Senior Day.
 
The Lions stunned a large contingent of traveling faithful, putting the Sea Gulls (14-0) in their biggest hole of the season by nearly pitching a first-half shutout. Kelly Nevins opened the scoring midway through the first quarter with a free-position goal, and Wexler made a trio of impressive saves to give the blue and gold a 1-0 lead after one chaotic quarter.
 
Nevins netted a woman-up goal 28 seconds into the second quarter, and Lucca finished a feed from Emily Potenza just 75 seconds later to stretch the hosts' advantage out to 3-0. Lucca then assisted on a goal by Abbie Teefy, who ripped one into the back of the cage to make it 4-0 and force a Salisbury timeout at the 9:34 mark of the period. Unfortunately for the Lions, that was the last time they got on the scoreboard.
 
The Sea Gulls ended their lengthy scoring drought with 1:39 to go in the first half, but Wexler made a nice save in the closing seconds to keep TCNJ well in front, 4-1, at the break.
 
The Sea Gulls made their comeback move in the third quarter, getting within 4-2 two minutes after intermission and pulling even at the 6:19 mark on the second of consecutive Miranda Mears markers in a 74-second span.
 
Wexler's heroics – four more saves in the third quarter – kept Salisbury from going in front, but the maroon-clad visitors did for the first time with 11:16 left on the clock. Wexler made two more stops, including one at point-blank range on a breakaway, to keep TCNJ within one, but the Lions were unable to cash in on the offensive end and Leah Doy's goal with 1:39 to go ended the scoring.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• After outshooting the Sea Gulls, 10-8, in the first half, TCNJ mustered just two shots in the second half as Salisbury ended the game with twice as many attempts (24-12)
• Salisbury held an 8-4 advantage on the draw
• TCNJ committed 26 turnovers to 19 for the Sea Gulls, who also had a slight edge in ground balls (21-17)

STANDOUT LIONS

• Wexler made more than twice as many saves as goals allowed, matching her career high with a baker's dozen
• Lucca led the Lions with three points
• Nevins scored on both of her shots
• Maria LaPietra racked up five ground balls and two caused turnovers
• Abby Williams and Ashly Herlihy each caused three turnovers

NOTES

• Lucca moved into 9^th in program history with 255 career points and is now tied for 18^th with 167 goals
• Williams now has 39 caused turnovers this season, good for fifth-most in a single season
• Wexler's 13 saves gave her an even 150 for her career
• Saturday's game was TCNJ's lowest-scoring regular-season game since a 6-3 win over Salisbury in 2017

UP NEXT

• TCNJ continues a four-game home stand against Neumann on Wednesday