SALISBURY, Md. – The second-ranked Salisbury University women's lacrosse team dropped a non-conference contest, 11-6, to top-ranked The College of New Jersey on Sunday morning at Sea Gull Stadium.

The five-goal margin is the largest defeat the Sea Gulls have suffered since a 14-9 setback in the 2004 season; that loss also came at the hands of TCNJ, in the semifinals of the NCAA tournament.

The Lions (12-0) scored Sunday's first goal nearly three minutes into the game off a goal from Alex Sparks. Over the next nine minutes, TCNJ added five additional goals to extend the lead to 6-0. Salisbury (13-2) got its first goal with 16 minutes remaining, off an unassisted tally from senior attacker Trish DiGirolomo. The Lions tacked on their seventh goal of the half, coming from Jen Garavente's free-position attempt. SU closed out the half with goals from junior midfielder Allie Wheatley and DiGirolomo.

Despite trailing 7-3 at the half, Salisbury outshot TCNJ 19-16; the Lions held a 5-3 ground balls advantage and won 7-of-11 draw controls.

The second half started as a back-and-forth affair, as the two teams traded the first four goals of the stanza. TCNJ led off with a free-position goal by Leigh Mitchell before Salisbury's Meagan Osipowich converted her free-position attempt. The Lions responded with a goal from Garavente before DiGirolomo tallied her third goal of the contest. Sea Gull junior midfielder Alyssa Fowler cut the lead to 9-6 with an unassisted goal with 8:51 remaining, but that would be as close as it would get for the maroon and gold; over the last eight minutes of the contest, the Lions controlled possession and found the back of the net an additional two times for the 11-6 victory.

DiGirolomo finished with a team-high three points (on three goals) for Salisbury. SU senior goalkeeper Julie Ann Caulfield finished with nine saves in nearly 54 minutes of action; freshman goalkeeper Ashton Wheatley closed out the final six minutes for the Sea Gulls.

Mitchell posted a game-high six points for the Lions, on two goals and four helpers. Garavente finished with a team-high three goals, while Alison Jaeger and Spark each netted two goals. TCNJ goalkeeper Mary Waller played the full contest and staved off 16 Salisbury shots to earn the win.

The Sea Gulls will close out the Capital Athletic Conference regular season this Wednesday at Wesley College. That game is scheduled for 4 p.m.