RED HAWKS TO FACE NJCU IN NCAA SECTIONAL TOURNAMENT AT MESSIAH COLLEGE

Montclair , NJ (11/12/07) – For the second straight season, the Montclair State men's soccer team is headed to the NCAA Division III Sectional Tournament. MSU will meet a familiar foe when it gets there as the Red Hawks will tangle with New Jersey City University for the third time in 33 days at Messiah College in Grantham, PA. The game will be played on Saturday, November 17 at 5:00 pm.

The winner of that game will take on the victor of the other sectional contest between host and three-time defending national champion Messiah and University of Rochester. The winner of the Sectional Tournament advacnes to the NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Final Four, which will be held on Friday, November 23 and Saturday, November 24 at Disney’s Wide of World of Sports Complex in Orlando, FL.

Montclair State is in its eighth appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament and 11th trip overall as MSU appeared in three College Division Tournaments in 1968, 1969 and 1972. The back-to-back appearances mark the first time since 1991 and 1992 that the Red Hawks have made consecutive appearances in the national tournament. MSU is 3-6-1 all time in the NCAA Division III Tournament. Last year MSU fell to Dominican College in penalty kicks (4-2) after a 1-1 tie in regulation and overtime.

“ Montclair State-New Jersey City III” is the rubber-match this season between two of the top teams not only in the New Jersey Athletic Conference, but in the Metro Region over the past two years. Over the past two seasons, the teams have gone a combined 73-13-5, including an 18-2-1 mark for Montclair State this season and an 18-4-1 record currently for NJCU. Both teams have been ranked by both D3Kicks.com and the National Soccer Coaches Association (NSCAA). New Jersey City was ranked No. 7 and Montclair 16 th in the last NSCAA poll on October 30 just prior to the NJAC Tournament. In the last D3Kicks.com poll, it was the Red Hawks sitting at 13 th and NJCU at 22 nd.

NJCU won the initial meeting between the two this season, 3-0 back on October 13. Three weeks later, Montclair got its measure of revenge with a 1-0 victory on a goal by freshman Aytac Malta ( Lake Hiawatha, NJ / Parsippany) to claim its second New Jersey Athletic Conference championship and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Gothic Knights would earn their ticket to the NCAAs via an at-large berth into the field of 57 teams.

Montclair State reached the Sectional Tournament after knocking off Penn State Behrend in the second round at Sprague Field on Saturday evening. Junior Tyler Masterson ( Long Valley, NJ / West Morris Central) scored both goals, including the game-winning tally with 14:27 after Behrend tied the match with just under 20 minutes to go. Junior Nick Mele ( Delran, NJ / Delran) made four saves as he recorded his 18 th win of the year, breaking the MSU single-season mark held by Jim Stahl (1988). Mele, the NJAC Goalkeeper of the Year, also posted career win No. 34 as he moved into third-place on the Red Hawks’ career list.

The Gothic Knights moved their way into the Sectionals for the second time in three years as it beat both Castleton State and Hamilton College in a four-team bracket in Newark, NJ at New Jersey Institute of Technology’s Lubetkin Field over the weekend. Junior center midfielder Jonathan Bilbao (Carteret, NJ/St. Benedict’s Prep) scored twice in the win over Castleton and New Jersey City scored three times in a six-minute span, including two in 26 seconds as it disposed of Hamilton, 4-1.

Montclair State holds a 41-8-4 lead in the series that began back in 1959. The Red Hawks held a major advantage recently going unbeaten against the Gothic Knights from 1986 until the 3-0 loss on October 13.