By Tyler Fennell
Staff Writer
It was a cloudy afternoon, on Wednesday, April 29. Rain was impending, and the slick surface it would create, would reflect the slippery slope Montclair would experience in the semi-finals of the NJAC championship for DIII women's lacrosse. The College secured their ticket to the NJAC Final in a dominant win against Montclair State with a final score of 17-3.
The College didn’t allow a single goal in the second half of the game. The College dominated every aspect of the match, in their biggest game of the season so far.
The first quarter opened with five goals from the college. Sophomore Kelly Nevins scored a pair, the first of which was the opening goal of the game, and the second would turn out to be the game winner. Sophomore Abby Teefy, freshman Evie Campbell and junior CJ Kole would all contribute with goals of their own in the opening quarter.
Montclair still showed pushback, scoring two goals of their own, however they wouldn’t score enough to recover the deficit already made by the Lions.
The second quarter saw a much slower pace as the rain began to come down, and the turf became slick. The College still didn’t let up with goals from senior Marissa Lucca, Kole and Campbell.
Montclair would score their last goal of the game, as well as their season in this quarter. It would turn out to be a terrible day for rain for the Redhawks.
As the rain stopped, and the third quarter began, the Lions would slam on the gas yet again, scoring another five goals. A pair from both Lucca and Kole, as well as another goal from Nevins, would further secure the College’s lead.
Any offense that Montclair hoped to achieve was snuffed out by the Lions defense or the college’s fifth year goalkeeper Haily Wexler.
With the College up by 10 going into the fourth quarter, one would think the pace would slow down. This was not the case. The College potted another four goals with pairs from Teefe and Nevins.
In total, four Lions recorded hat tricks, with Nevins leading the pack with five goals in the game, followed by Kole with four and Teefe and Lucca both with three. Lucca also recorded six assists, bringing her point total in the game to nine.
As the crowd departed, “Kelly” chants could be heard from the college’s bench in celebration of Nevins’ five goal game.
The College will go on to play against Rowan in the NJAC championship final. The winner will automatically clinch a playoff berth in the 2026 NCAA Division III Women’s Lacrosse playoffs. In the Lions’ last meeting with Rowan on April 25, the college walked away victorious with a score of 14-7. Instead of meeting them in Glassboro, Rowan will have to defeat the College on their own turf at the TCNJ Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex on Saturday, May 2, at 1:00 p.m.
