The Rowan field hockey team is continuing one of the most incredible seasons in Rowan athletics history and are showing no signs of slowing down.

The Profs captured the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championship this past Saturday after defeating arch rival The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) 2-0.

It’s Rowan’s seventh conference title and their first since 2009. Rowan scored early in the contest when midfielder Molly Gorczyca took a pass from freshman Krystyna Hovell and scored the first goal just under 15 minutes into the game. The stonewall defense led by senior goalie Morgan Novak fought off a pestering Lions attack in the first period, denying all five TCNJ shots.

Finally, it was senior captain Rachel Galante, the team’s top goal scorer who gave the Profs some much-needed breathing room when she out her 26th goal of the season in the back of the box, and making it a 2-0 game just five and a half minutes into the second half. Galante is ranked fifth in Division III in goals per game (1.3) and the brown and gold lead the country in both goals per game (4.9) as well as scoring margin, having only surrendered 14 all season while the offense has tallied an astounding 98.

When asked about how she felt about her first title as head coach here at Rowan, Michelle Andre was nothing short of proud.

“I am just so proud of these girls,” Andre said. “The way they have competed throughout the tournament and really the whole season, I am just very lucky to get to coach them.”

With the conference title comes an automatic bid for the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament, where Rowan will face the University of Lynchburg at Coach Richard Wackar Stadium this Saturday at 11 a.m.

Thanks to their dominate performance all season, the Profs will get to host the first and second rounds.

“Its really big for our team,” Andre said. “The girls will be well rested and they will be familiar with the surface, which is a huge part of the game.”

The brown and gold go into the tournament with a perfect 20-0 record this season. The only other perfect season in school history would belong to the 2002 team who finished with an unblemished (21-0) record and earning Rowans first and only NCAA championship.

“Our girls are just taking it one game at a time,” Andre said. “And knowing we won’t get a next game if we look past any opponent.”

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