The College of New Jersey Athletics

EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ women's lacrosse team's dominion over the NJAC is alive and well.
 
The 16th-ranked and top-seeded Lions pulled away from the 18^th-ranked and second-seeded Profs with a dominant second half on Saturday, culminating in a 10-7 victory and the program's 15^th consecutive conference championship.
 
CJ Kole and Marissa Lucca had three goals and two assists each for TCNJ, which clinched the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and defeated the rival Profs in the conference final for the fifth year in a row.
 
After a predictably cagey start given the high stakes, the Lions drew first blood as Kole fired home a free-position goal with just a few seconds remaining on the shot clock, giving the blue and gold a 1-0 lead about seven minutes into the contest.
 
TCNJ doubled it just over a minute later as Lucca snared a pass from Kole at the left post and somehow slotted a shot past Kylie Durboraw and into the back of the cage for a 2-0 lead at the 6:52 mark.
 
Rowan, however, began to gain ground and finally broke through on a goal by Trish Gillen with a little over a minute to play in the opening frame.
 
The Profs took off from there, netting three unanswered goals in a span of 2:17 of game time, pulling in front 4-2 on Alexis Lowry's free-position marker around the midway point of the second quarter.
 
Kole ended the Lions' lengthy scoring drought with 3:15 to go in the half, lasering home another eight-meter effort to get the hosts within 4-3 at the break.
 
TCNJ flipped the script early in the third quarter, tying the game on a free-position goal by Kelly Nevins 58 seconds after intermission and taking a short-lived lead on Lucca's finish off a feed from Kole, both markers coming on woman-up opportunities following Rowan green cards.
 
The Profs pulled even on an eight-meter goal by Elaina Corson, but the rookie Campbell came through with two clutch goals – both assisted by Lucca, and exactly two minutes apart – to put the pride ahead for good.
 
Clinging to a 7-6 lead after Rowan had pulled one back, TCNJ clamped down defensively to keep the brown and yellow off the scoreboard for the next 15 minutes and change. In that time, the Lions let their individual talent complement their collective defensive dynamism.
 
With Rowan on the move and trailing by just a single goal, Sydney Sieja forced a Prof attacker out of bounds to regain possession. Kelly Nevins then took a pass around midfield and sprinted through and around a trio of defenders before beating Durboraw through the five-hole for an 8-6 lead at the 4:15 mark of the third.
 
That was the last goal for the stanza, but another highlight-reel finish was not far off. This time it was Kole doing the honors, the junior shaking loose from a pair of defenders with a wicked stutter-step before firing off a shot that ripped into the top shelf of the cage just before absorbing a massive hit, the end result a 9-6 lead with 12:02 to go.
 
With just one save to date, Hailey Wexler came up with two massive free-position stops on the same possession, and Lucca's goal on a feed from Teefy put TCNJ on top, 10-6, with 6:55 left.

The Profs got within 10-7 at the 5:18 mark, but a third fourth-quarter save from Wexler prevented the visitors from getting any closer, and the Lions held the ball for the game's final 90 seconds before storming the field in joyous celebration, another NJAC title in tow.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• TCNJ owned a slight 20-17 edge in shots in a tight defensive struggle
• The teams combined for 44 turnovers, 23 of them coming from the Profs
• Rowan held slim advantages in draw controls (11-8) and ground balls (19-16)
• Rowan was 4-of-8 on free-position attempts, while the Lions converted all three of their opportunities

STANDOUT LIONS

• In addition to their matching five-point stat lines, Kole and Lucca also combined for five draw controls (three for Kole, two for Lucca)
• Campbell and Nevins scored two goals each
• Abby Williams had another huge game at the head of the Lions' staunch defense, pairing five caused turnovers with five ground balls
• Ashly Herlihy racked up four caused turnovers, while Sieja, Megan Hogan, and Mckenah Schilp had two apiece
• Wexler finished with four saves

NOTES

• TCNJ is now 61-1 all-time against Rowan and has won 25 consecutive meetings
• Lucca moved into 8^th on the program's all-time scoring list with 199 career goals
• Lucca's 123 points this season are tied for 2^nd-most in school history with Leigh Mitchell's output in 2011
• Lucca is the fourth player in program history to dish out 50 assists in a single season
• Herlihy now has 68 career caused turnovers, good for 12^th in school history and one behind Emily Potenza; her 41 caused turnovers in 2026 are 5^th-most in a single season
• Herlihy, Potenza, and Williams are all tied for the team lead with 51 ground balls this season

UP NEXT

• TCNJ will learn its NCAA Tournament draw when the field is revealed Monday at 10:30 a.m. on NCAA.com