SALISBURY, Md. – Senior goalkeeper Rachel Clewer recorded a career-high 12 saves as the No. 2 Salisbury University field hockey team returned to Sea Gull Stadium for the first time in nearly three weeks and collected a key win against a top-five team, defeating No. 3 The College of New Jersey, 3-1.

"We knew this was going to be a battle," Salisbury Head Coach Dawn Chamberlin said. "We knew we had to bring our A-game, and come out and all 11 players needed to be ready, charged and bring their energy and have a great performance. And anyone that went in had to do the same thing and they did that today. We held them strong, we played hard even when things weren't going right for us, we were still playing hard and we need to do that to win."

The first few minutes were played as one would expect in a battle of top-ranked teams, with back-and-forth play in the midfield and then the game turned to a frenzied pace throughout with chances at each end.

The Sea Gulls (9-0) would get the first offensive chance, being awarded a penalty corner 4:38 into the contest. Senior Mallory Elliott received an insert off Salisbury's first penalty-corner chance from junior Samantha Johnson. Elliott ripped a shot, but it was blocked on the way to the goal.

The Lions only got one shot off in the first 28 minutes of play, but it was a good chance that tested Clewer. Lindsey Hatch got a clean look from the right wing, but Clewer calmly kicked the ball out of the circle.

Salisbury would break the ice less than 20 minutes into play, as senior Summer Washburn received the ball off a penalty corner on the left side. She wound up for a strong shot, and sent the ball toward the right post where sophomore Becca Rinaca came charging in for the one-time finish past TCNJ keeper Kelly Schlupp.

Clewer and the Salisbury defense held the 1-0 lead until halftime. Off a penalty corner, midway through the half, TCNJ's Lexi Smith received a pass at the top of the circle and dodged one Sea Gull defender before sophomore Hannah Miller stepped up to stop Smith 10 yards from the goal, clearing the ball.

Clewer made five saves in the first half, turning away two tries in the final 90 seconds of the half and junior Amanda Cooper recorded a defensive save with less than a minute to play.

Salisbury wasted no time in the second half as the Sea Gulls capitalized on their first of four penalty corners in the final 35 minutes. Junior Jessica Crew ended up with the ball on the right wing and took a shot toward the left side of the cage. Senior Karen Cindea stepped in front of Schlupp and tipped the ball while cutting through the front of the goal, past the TCNJ keeper and Lion back Shannon Cowles.

Elliott put her mark on the game, with a rip from the top of the circle, off a penalty corner insert from Johnson. Elliott's shot was deflected on its way to the cage and carried over Schlupp's shoulder into the top-left corner for the 3-0 lead.

Clewer and the Salisbury defense found themselves under pressure throughout the night, with the Lions (8-1) getting 20 penalty corner tries in the game, 13 of which came in the second half.  On one of those chances, Smith blasted a shot from the top of the circle, to Clewer's right, but the Elkton, Maryland native dropped low, with a kick save for her ninth of the night – a new career high.

"She had an awesome game today," Chamberlin said. "She single-handedly kept us in the game today with some spectacular saves that she made and that's what we needed. When she makes saves like that, it pumps everyone else up and it gets them going and she held them off strong."

The Lions would get one chance past Clewer, on their final penalty corner, with no time left on the clock. Jaclyn Douglas lifted a long shot from the left side over Clewer, and into the right side of the goal for the final play of the night, though the Sea Gulls would come away with the key victory.

The Sea Gulls return to action on Tuesday, October 7 when they host Catholic University of America. The game is set to begin at 6 p.m.