The TCNJ football team concluded its first season under head coach Tyler Moody with a 27-7 loss to No. 7 Christopher Newport University (CNU) on Friday night in Ewing, New Jersey. The game also marked Senior Night, honoring the team’s 25 seniors from the Class of 2026.
Despite the defeat, several TCNJ seniors delivered notable performances. Joe Visaggio rushed for 104 yards and scored a touchdown, while Bill Westerby recorded 12 tackles, one sack, and forced two fumbles. The Lions’ defense held CNU to their lowest point and yardage totals of the season.
CNU entered the game as the NJAC champion with an undefeated record (10-0, 7-0). They struggled to score early, remaining off the scoreboard until midway through the second quarter. TCNJ senior Dave Giulian stopped CNU’s Gunner White on fourth-and-goal at the one-yard line during this stretch.
A long punt return allowed CNU to start their next drive inside TCNJ’s red zone, leading to Zavier Kennedy’s two-yard touchdown run with just over seven minutes left in the first half. Another short field set up by Noah Martin’s punt return resulted in Josh Powell catching an 11-yard touchdown pass from Connor Barry.
TCNJ responded late in the half but had a field goal attempt blocked as time expired. In the third quarter, Barry connected with Colin Hart for a 53-yard pass before scoring himself on a two-yard run. The Lions’ defense then forced turnovers and punts before Visaggio capped a ten-play drive with a 17-yard rushing touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
Seniors Christian Bennett and Dylan Patscher combined for a key stop on fourth down inside TCNJ territory later in the game. However, CNU sealed their win with another touchdown reception by White from Barry with under two minutes remaining.
Statistically, CNU outgained TCNJ by a margin of 334-216 yards and converted four out of five fourth-down attempts but only four out of twelve third downs. Barry completed 18 of his 26 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns; Hart caught seven passes for 101 yards.
For TCNJ, Visaggio logged his third game this season surpassing 100 rushing yards. Andrew Spano contributed another 38 rushing yards; Ryan Gill caught one pass for 25 yards; Erik Garv made three receptions totaling 24 yards. Quarterback Dean Licari finished his final collegiate start completing four passes for forty-nine yards and running for twenty-four more.
Defensively, Westerby and Bennett combined for twenty-three tackles; Giulian tallied eight stops including one-and-a-half tackles for loss; Patscher blocked an extra point attempt; Jameson Sessa added two tackles-for-loss.
The Lions finished their season at six wins and four losses—their second consecutive winning campaign—a feat last accomplished between 2001 and 2004. Visaggio ended his year with twelve rushing touchdowns—one shy of tying TCNJ’s single-season record. Gill closed his career ranking among program leaders in receptions (seventy-nine), receiving yards (1,363), and touchdowns (eleven). Giulian concluded ninth all-time at TCNJ with over two hundred career tackles while Sessa recorded nearly thirty career tackles-for-loss alongside fourteen-and-a-half sacks.
Garv ranked second on this year’s team in both receptions (eleven) and receiving yards (219).
