St. Mary's City, Md. – The College of New Jersey, ranked fifth in the latest IWLCA Division III Top 20 poll, halted the St. Mary's College of Maryland women's lacrosse team's win streak at three with a 13-9 victory Sunday afternoon in non-conference action.

TCNJ's junior attacker Rachel Gordon (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) paced all players with five goals, while senior attacker Karen Doane (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) added a hat trick.

TCNJ (2-0) broke a 1-1 tie with four straight goals to post a 5-1 advantage with 10:15 left in the first half. Junior midfielders Lauren Carrier (Crownsville, Md./Old Mill) and Allie Zerhusen (Cockeysville, Md./Park) pulled St. Mary's within 5-3 at 4:18. The Lions went on to close the half on a 2-1 run for a 7-4 halftime lead.

The Seahawks (5-3) opened up the second half with a pair of goals in a 1:34-minute span to trail 7-6 with 24:51 remaining in the contest. Gordon netted her second goal of the day at 14:40 to give TCNJ a two-goal cushion before Zerhusen answered back at 12:05 to cut the Lion lead to 7-6.

Gordon then scored three of TCNJ's five unanswered goals as the Lions claimed a 13-7 margin at 3:57. St. Mary's tacked on two more goals in the final 1:35 of the game as Carrier scored one and assisted on the other.

TCNJ outshot the Seahawks, 40-21, and won 19 of 24 draw controls, while edging SMCM, 16-14, in ground balls.

Midfielders Katie Reuther (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) and Alison Jaeger (Hampton, N.J./North Hampton) each grabbed four draw controls, while Reuther and junior defender Kelly Mitchell (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape) each had four ground balls to lead the Lions.

Zerhusen paced St. Mary's with four points on three goals and one assist, while Carrier had a pair of goals and one assist. Carrier also had four caused turnovers and five ground balls.

Senior goalie Caitlin Gregory (Winslow, N.J./Eastern) made nine saves in the victory for TCNJ, while freshman Ella Schoming (Westminster, Md./North Carroll) recorded a season-high 16 saves for St. Mary's.

The Seahawks will look to get back in the win column on Thursday, March 20 when St. Mary's hosts Catholic University at 4:00 in non-conference action.

Box Score

2008-03-16