Ewing, NJ (10/23/04) - Sophomore forward Allison Greene recorded her first career hat trick in leading The College of New Jersey's field hockey team to a 7-0 shutout of Montclair State University in a must-win situation for the Lions on Saturday afternoon.

The victory gave TCNJ its 19th New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) title and the league's first-ever automatic qualification to the NCAA Division III Field Hockey Championship Tournament. The Lions improve to 10-5 overall and finish the NJAC season with a 5-1 mark, while MSU falls to 12-3 on the year and are now 4-1 in the NJAC with one more conference game left as the Red Hawks suffered their first league loss of 2004.

TCNJ is ranked 15th in this week's STX/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division III National Coaches poll, while MSU is sixth.

Within an eight-minute span, the Lions jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Sophomore forward Jess Berkowitz jabbed a pass over and behind MSU's junior goalkeeper ROBYN APICELLI where freshman forward Alycia Gotthold completed the play for her second goal of the season at 1:10. Senior forward Colleen Stamler helped make it a 2-0 game as she slid a pass past Apicelli and Greene converted it for her fourth score of the year at 7:57. TCNJ would carry that 2-0 margin into halftime.

In the second half, the Lions unleashed for five unanswered goals. Greene and Berkowitz alternated on the first four goals of the stanza, putting TCNJ up 6-0 at 51:12. Gotthold tallied the last goal of the game at 54:14 as she put in the rebound from freshman Colleen Dougherty's shot. The Red Hawks had a chance to ruin the Lions' shutout bid but senior ERIN BALINT was wide left on her penalty stroke attempt at 54:55. MSU was out-shot, 13-4, but won the penalty corner battle, 10-3.

This week's NJAC Defensive Player of the Week, junior goalkeeper Kristina Beyel needed just two saves to register her seventh solo shutout of the season. Apicelli finished with two stops and seven goals against in 58 minutes of action for the Red Hawks, while freshman JACKIE DERICCO completed the game with a save in 12 minutes of play.

The bracket for the 2004 NCAA Division III Field Hockey Championship Tournament will be announced on the night of November 7. First round action will begin on Wednesday, November 10 at campus sites. The semifinals and championship game will be hosted by Westfield State College in Westfield, MA on November 19-20.