Montclair, NJ – Montclair State University women's lacrosse enters the NJAC Tournament as the fourth seed and will look to end top-seeded TCNJ's conference championship streak on Wednesday.
 
GAME INFO
First draw from the TCNJ Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex is set for 4:00 p.m. Live coverage links can be found at montclairathletics.com. Tickets can only be purched at njacsports.com/tickets. NO CASH tickets can be purchased at the venue. 
 
LAST TIME OUT
Montclair clinched its NJAC Tournament berth with a road win at Kean of 15-7 on Saturday. The Red Hawks (6-7, 2-3 NJAC) broke the scoring open two and a half minutes in, as AMRA LUKOVIC scooped up a ground ball and slotted a shot past the goalkeeper within a few seconds. Kean generated a turnover on the ensuing trip up the field, leading to the leveler with 10:44 remaining in the first quarter. The two sides traded defensive stops over the next three minutes, with KYRA MORENA rocketing a shot off the post to lead to another ground ball pickup from Lukovic. On the same possession, CARA MCCARTNEY found Morena for another scoring opportunity to push the visitors in front. A few minutes later, McCartney notched another assist on a strike from KAELEY SEK to double the lead for the Red Hawks. Kean trimmed the margin with just over two and a half minutes on the clock to make the score 3-2 after 15 minutes of play. Montclair struck right back in the opening 90 seconds of the second stanza, as Sek scored off a pass from LEXI ROBINSON. After Lukovic tallied the ensuing draw control, Morena found Robinson for a marker to push the lead to three. A minute later, the Cougars forced a turnover and capitalized with a marker on the other end to make the score 5-3. The Red Hawks countered with a big run over the next four minutes, kicked off by a successful clear attempt and goal from McCartney. After collecting the resulting draw control, Robinson scored to push the lead to four. Montclair repeated that process again as Lukovic scored with 7:58 on the clock to make the score 8-3. The two sides tightened up defensively, not allowing a goal again until the 1:39 mark, as Kean collected the final two goals of the opening half to make the margin at the break three. Kean continued its push into the third quarter by forcing a pair of turnovers, but would fall behind by another goal as Robinson capitalized on an extra-man opportunity at the 11:41 mark. Morena looked for another on the next possession with a shot on goal, but the Cougars countered to climb within three once again as the clock approached the eight-minute mark. The home side forced another turnover a few minutes later and sent a shot on goal that was stopped by JOEY GROTKOPF, leading to a tally on the other end from Morena off a feed from ASHLEY CASTILLO. Montclair rattled a pair of shots on goal in the final two minutes, but the score would hold at 10-6 going into the final 15 minutes. The Cougars scored their final marker of the game 60 seconds into the fourth quarter, as the Red Hawks would search for another strike with shots from Robinson and Lukovic that had to be stopped by the home goalkeeper. A pair of green cards and a yellow card from Kean would lead to another man-up opportunity for Montclair, who capitalized with a goal from Castillo to make the margin four. Shortly after, Robinson took a feed from Morena and found the back of the net to make the score 12-7 at the halfway point of the frame. Robinson scored another man-up goal with three and a half minutes remaining, as Lukovic did the same on the next possession to continue the run. McCartney struck for the final goal of the afternoon with 1:32 on the clock to make the final margin eight.
 
MONTCLAIR STATE (6-7, 2-3 NJAC) 2026 Stats
 
TCNJ (14-2, 5-0 NJAC) 2026 Stats
 
SCOUTING TCNJ
The Lions enter the NJAC Tournament as the top seed and as the #16 team in the country according to the IWLCA Division III National Poll. They will seek to win their 15^th NJAC Championship in a row with a 14-2 overall record and a 5-0 NJAC record after besting #17 Rowan, 14-7 on Saturday. Last season, they finished 14-5 and a perfect 5-0 in conference play. In the NJAC Tournament, they bested Stockton (17-9) and Rowan (16-12) to win their 14th-straight NJAC crown. They saw a quick exit in the NCAA Tournament, however, falling to Stevens, 15-9. According to the 2026 NJAC Preseason Poll, the Lions are favored to win their 15th-straight title.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Red Hawks and the Lions enter matchup number 31. TCNJ has dominated the series with a record of 29-1 and has been victorious in seven-straight games.

LAST MEETING
These two teams met back on April 1, where the Lions bested the Red Hawks by a score of 14-4.
 
UP NEXT
The winner of this contest will advance to the NJAC finals on Saturday, May 1. The game is projected for 1:00 p.m.