Box Score
EWING, NJ – The Rowan University women’s lacrosse upset number one ranked The College of New Jersey, 12-11 in a New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) game on Thursday night.
It was the first loss of the season for the Lions. TCNJ has a 10-1 record with a 2-1 conference mark. The Profs are 8-4 overall and 3-0 in the conference.
Rowan was led by midfielder Nicole Valianti (jr. Oaklyn, NJ/Collingswood) with four goals and attack Ellen Brigham (fr. Oakton, VA/Oakton) followed with three. Midfielder Alli Dickey (jr. Stevensville, MD/Kent Island) contributed with two goals and two assists. Attack Tori Hart (sr. Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) added one goal and two assists. Attacks Alayna Morris (sr. Columbus, NJ/Northern Burlington Reg.) and Lauren Yee (jr. Mendham, NJ/West Morris Mendham) chipped in with one goal apiece.
For the Lions, midfielder Leigh Mitchell (so. Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) led all scorers with seven goals. She also assisted on two goals. Midfielder Kathleen Notos (so. Pennsauken, NJ/Camden Catholic) scored twice while midfielder Alison Jaeger (jr. Hampton, NJ/North Hunterdon) and attack Lisa Seldeen (sr. Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley) each hit the net once. Seldeen also had an assist.
TCNJ edged Rowan in shots, 24-23. In the Profs’ goal, Kerry Pehnke (so. W. Windsor, NJ/W. Windsor-Plainsboro N.) made nine saves. For the Lions, goalie Mary Waller (jr. Bel Air, MD/C. Milton Wright) stopped five shots.
Rowan was ahead 8-7 after the first half. Valianti put the Profs up 9-7 with an unassisted goal (33:21) and Jaeger answered with one of her own (34:19). Again the two teams exchanged goals. Valianti hit the Lions’ net for the fourth time (44:09) and Mitchell scored her sixth goal (49:37). Brigham scored with an assist from Hart at 53:40 for an 11-9 advantage. With 4:23 remaining, Mitchell recorded her seventh goal and the Lions trailed 11-10. Brigham’s unassisted goal made the score, 12-10 with 1:43 left. Seldeen scored 22 seconds later on a pass from Mitchell which ended the scoring.
In the first period, Dickey put Rowan on the scoreboard first (2:36). TCNJ came back with two straight, one goal each from Mitchell (3:21) and Notos (3:53). The Profs answered with four straight goals to lead 5-2 at 13:13. Valianti had two while Morris and Hart each tallied one. Mitchell made the score 5-3 with an unassisted goal 42 seconds later. Dickey scored (15:52) and she assisted on Brigham’s goal (16:57) for a four point lead (7-3). Mitchell pulled the Lions within three goals (7-4) at 20:10.
Rowan again had a four goal advantage (8-4) on Yee’s goal with 4:29 left in the half. Dickey had the assist. TCNJ ended the period with three consecutive goals to pull within one (8-7). Notos had the first (27:00) then Mitchell had the next two (27:49, 29:21).
Next week, Rowan hosts Catholic University on Tuesday, April 20 at 6 p.m.
