RED HAWKS DOWN RICHARD STOCKTON IN REGULAR-SEASON FINALE, 15-4

Montclair , NJ (4/26/08) – Sophomore midfielder Taylor Bonner ( Old Bridge, NJ / Old Bridge) scored three goals and assisted on five others while junior A.J. Bachman ( Montville, NJ / Mountain Lakes) scored five times as Montclair State completed its regular-season with a 15-4 victory over Richard Stockton at Sprague Field on Saturday afternoon.

Senior attack Bryan Klimchak (Clark, NJ / Arthur L. Johnson) tallied four goals as the Red Hawks capped off their Skyline Conference regular season unbeaten at 5-0 while improving to 11-4 overall.

Junior Jonathan Kelly ( Howell, NJ / Howell) had two goals for Richard Stockton, which fell to 7-7 overall and 2-3 in the Skyline.

The two teams will meet in the Skyline Conference Tournament semifinals on Wednesday, April 30. Top-seeded MSU will host the No. 4 seeded Ospreys at 7:00 pm. In the other semifinal, No. 2 seed New York Maritime faces No. 3 Kean. The winners meet for the Skyline Conference Championship and automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament on Saturday, May 3.

Bonner put Montclair State on the board 2:15 into the game and then assisted on goals by Bachman and Klimchak three minutes apart as the Red Hawks jumped out to a 3-0 lead with 8:17 left in the opening period. Kelly scored twice with his second coming with 1:42 left, however Bachman tallied on the man-advantage with 36 seconds to play as Montclair led 5-2 at the end of one period.

Bonner collected his second and Bachman netted the hat trick early in the second as the lead grew to 7-2. After a Keith Bologno (Glen Gardner, NJ / Voorhees) goal with just over three minutes left, Bonner scored and then assisted on Klimchak’s man-up with 14 seconds to go as Montclair State led 9-3. Those goals were the start of a seven-goal run by Montclair State as the Red Hawks outscored the Ospreys, 4-0 in the third period and 6-1 over the final 30 minutes. Bachman had two scores in that spurt, including his final goal with 14:45 remaining in the game that upped the advantage to 14-3.

Montclair State goalkeeper Thomas Bowers (Hamburg, NJ / Pope John XXIII) made 13 saves as he moved within six of Vinny DeGennaro’s all-time record of 656 (2000-03). Matt Sharp ( Wilmington, DE / Salesianum) had a team-high six ground balls to go along with three caused turnovers.