EWING, N.J. – A new milestone was reached in head coach Sharon Pfluger's legendary career following the TCNJ field hockey team's 5-0 shutout victory over William Paterson at home Saturday afternoon.
The victory, which gave TCNJ its fourth straight wins in a row, marked coach Pfluger's 1200th combined victory between coaching both field hockey and women's lacrosse. She becomes the first coach in NCAA history to reach that milestone coaching two different sports.
The Lions dominated on both ends of the field from the jump, putting up 10 first quarter shots en route to a season-high 31 total shots for the game. On the defensive side, TCNJ allowed just one shot from the Pioneers, which came late in the fourth. The Lions also held a 14-0 penalty corners advantage.
Making her second straight start of the season,
Carly Cole gave TCNJ the early lead after scoring the first two goals of the game. Her first came with 44 seconds left in the first when she tapped in a perfectly placed pass from
Jess Hatch right past the William Paterson goalie. She added on a second a little over two minutes into the second quarter after she tapped in another score in nearly identical fashion, this time off a pass from
Sophia Foschini.
A game after setting a new career high in shots with five, Cole nearly doubled it in today's game after putting up nine total shots.
Rayhanah Ahmed added to the scoring with under seven minutes in the half off another assist from Foschini, giving the Lions a commanding 3-0 lead. The goal marked Ahmed's fourth straight game in a row with at least one score.
In the third quarter, super senior
Sophie Popp scored the Lions' fourth goal of the game by successfully shooting the ball through a scrum of Pioneers defenders and finding the cage.
Freshman
Sydney Sieja scored the first goal of her career with under three minutes remaining in the fourth. She scored off a pass by
Kileigh Pfluger's team leading fourth assist.
Entering the game in relief in the fourth quarter, freshman
Brigitte Racey recorded the first save of her career by blocking the lone shot attempted by William Paterson on the game.
TCNJ will stay home next Wednesday when they host Stockton at 4:00 P.M.