EWING, NJ – The College of New Jersey women's lacrosse team held off Rowan University, 17-12 in the final of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championship Tournament on Saturday.
TCNJ (13-5) captures the conference title and receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division Championship Tournament. In the semifinals, Rowan won 13-9 over the third seed Montclair State University and The College of New Jersey defeated the fourth seed Kean University, 18-4.
Midfielder Kathleen Jaeger (sr. Whitehouse Station, NJ/Hunterdon Central) and attack Alex Fitzpatrick (jr. Burlington, NJ/Northern Burlington) each scored four goals for the Lions. Jaeger also had two assists and Fitzpatrick chipped in with one. Attack Olivia Cleale (jr. Yardley, PA/Notre Dame (NJ)) totaled two goals and four assists.
Attack Allie Gorman (jr. Sicklerville, NJ/Washington Twp.) produced three goals while midfielder Erin Harvey (gr. Mount Laurel, NJ/Lenape) and attack Kasey Donoghue (jr. Mount Laurel, NJ/Lenape) each had two. Goalie Miranda Chrone (sr. Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) turned away 11 shots. Fitzpatrick compiled 10 draw controls.
For the Profs (11-7), attack
Maddie Bray (sr. Medford Lakes, NJ/Shawnee) and midfielder
Liz Kramer (sr. Mullica Hill, NJ/Clearview Reg.) collected three goals apiece. Midfielder
Taylor Gretz (sr. Woolwich Twp., NJ/Kingsway Reg.) registered two goals and one assist.
Attack
Mikala Gillespie (sr. Ocean City, NJ/Ocean City) added two goals and attack
Jess Havers (jr. Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) had one goal and one assist. Attack
Elise Cohan (fr. Far Hills, NJ/Bernards) scored one time. Midfielder
Shannen Sterner (fr. Kendall Park, NJ/South Brunswick) and midfielder
Julia Grlica (so. Jefferson, NJ/Jefferson Twp.) each assisted on one goal. Goalie
Reilly Shaup (fr. Mullica Hill, NJ/Clearview Reg.) made 10 saves.
Rowan scored three straight goals to lead 3-1 at 21:02 in the first half. Bray scored the first two and Kramer followed with the third. The teams exchanged goals then the Lions went ahead 5-4 with scores by Gorman, Fitzpatrick and Jaeger. Gillespie tied the score at five with 9:37 remaining. TCNJ pulled away with five straight to lead 10-5 at the break. Cleale scored twice while Harvey, Jaeger and Donoghue had one goal apiece.
Kramer's goal at 17:02 in the final period made the score 12-7. TCNJ led 14-7 (14:10) after Gorman and Jaeger each scored. Fitzpatrick gave the Lions a seven point advantage (15-8) with a free position goal at 6:49. The Profs pulled within five (16-11) at 3:08 after Bray and Cohan scored. Jaeger had TCNJ's last score (1:38) and Gretz made a free position goal (0:11) to end the game.
