EWING, N.J. – The No. 18 TCNJ women's lacrosse team clinched an NJAC playoff home game in commanding fashion on Wednesday afternoon, soaring past Stockton in a 17-3 conference rout.
 
Marissa Lucca piled up seven goals and five assists in her latest double-digit point production, also causing five turnovers to match Abby Williams at the head of a dominating defensive effort that stymied Stockton and held the visitors to more than 10 goals below their season average.
 
The Lions (13-3, 4-0) got a big boost from the return of star attack CJ Kole, who had missed the previous seven games due to injury. Back in the starting lineup, she wasted no time returning to the scoring column with a free-position conversion just two minutes after opening draw.
 
The Ospreys (10-5, 2-2) pulled even at the midway point of the first quarter, but Lucca finished a feed from Emily Potenza to give the blue and gold the lead a minute later, and the rout was on.
 
Lucca then assisted on consecutive goals by Evie Campbell, Abbie Teefy, and Potenza as the Lions opened up a 5-1 advantage after one.
 
Lucca stayed hot to start the second stanza, taking a feed from Kole before dodging a defender and ripping a cross-crease shot into the lower right-hand corner of the cage to make it 6-1. Just 50 seconds later, Kelly Nevins got herself on the score sheet with a free-position conversion, putting TCNJ ahead 7-1 with 13:02 to go before half.
 
Both goalies started to heat up from there, and neither side scored until the waning seconds of the half. That's when Potenza intercepted a pass and carried the ball coast to coast before dropping off a pass for Lucca, who found Campbell in front of the cage for a shot that ricocheted off the crossbar and off the Stockton goalie's back before bouncing over the line for a woman-down goal that extended the spread to 8-1 at the break.
 
The Ospreys started to gain their footing after intermission, getting within 8-2 and holding the Lions off the scoreboard for seven-plus minutes. But Lucca scored back-to-back goals – both on assists from Nevins – to give TCNJ an eight-goal bulge at 10-2.
 
Stockton stopped the bleeding with a goal of its own, but the Lions tacked on three more in the final two minutes and change of the third to push the margin out to double figures. One of those goals was a second woman-down marker in which Abby Williams picked off a pass to start a transition opportunity that ended in Lucca's pass to a wide-open Teefy for a goal in close. After Lucca fired home an eight-meter attempt with 23 seconds to go in the period, it was 13-3 in favor of the home side.
 
Lucca tacked on two more goals in the final frame, which also featured markers by Campbell and Kole.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• TCNJ outshot the Ospreys, 36-13, racking up 18 shots in each half
• Stockton committed 28 turnovers (22 caused by TCNJ) to just 16 for the Lions
• TCNJ piled up 28 ground balls and held a 14-8 advantage in draw controls

STANDOUT LIONS

• Lucca has scored at least 11 points in each of her last three games, as well as four of her last five; she was also a menace on the ride, causing five turnovers to go with four ground balls
• Campbell matched her career high with four goals
• Nevins had a goal and a career high-tying three assists
• Kole paired two goals with two assists in her first action in four weeks
• Teefy netted two goals and had five draw controls
• Potenza piled up a game-high six draws to go with four ground balls, a goal, and two assists
• Williams equaled her career high with six grounders and added five caused turnovers
• Ashly Herlihy tallied four ground balls and three caused turnovers
• Mckenah Schilp and Meghan Hogan each caused a pair of turnovers
• Hailey Wexler had six saves, all in the first half and five of them in the second quarter

NOTES

• Lucca moved past Ali Jaeger '11 and into 4^th in school history with 106 career assists
• Lucca is now eight points away from 300 for her career
• Kole is now tied for 12^th in program history with 65 career assists
• Potenza moved into a tie for 12^th all-time with 66 career caused turnovers and is just three ground balls shy of 100
• Herlihy's 61 caused turnovers for her career are already tied for 16^th in school history, and her 34 CTs in 2026 are 7^th-most for a single season
• TCNJ has won five of the last six meetings with Stockton by at least 10 goals

UP NEXT

• The Lions wrap up the regular season at No. 17 Rowan in a huge rivalry clash that will determine home-field advantage for the NJAC Tournament