Farmingdale, NY (5/2/09) – Senior midfielder Mary Kate DiBenedetto (Cinnaminson, NJ / Cinnaminson)
scored five times and collected two assists, however Montclair State's
three-year run as the Skyline Conference champion came to an end as the
second-seeded Red Hawks fell to top-seeded Farmingdale State, 16-13 on
Saturday.
Junior Morgan MacPhee (Toms River, NJ / Toms River East) scored
three goals as the Red Hawks finished their season at 8-10. It was the
second time this season that MSU lost to the Rams, who also earn an
automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament with the victory. Montclair is
30-2 overall against Skyline teams since the league's inception in 2006
with both losses coming to Farmingdale.
With an 8-8 halftime score, the Rams scored three goals in the first
1:16 of the second half. Junior attack Kathy Waite (Levittown,
N.Y./Division Ave.) scored on a free position just 40 seconds in.
Freshman midfielder Shannon Reardon (North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon)
posessed the draw and scored 10 seconds later for the 10-8 Farmingdale
lead with 29:20 showing on the clock. Sophomore attack Katelin McIsaac
(Longwood, N.Y./Ridge) netted the third consecutive goal off an assist
from sophomore attack Justine Rothar (Levittown, N.Y./Division Ave.) to
give the Rams the 11-8 advantage.
Montclair responded with three straight goals, one from freshman midfielder Cora Delfini (New Egypt, N.J./New Egypt) and two goals from DiBenedetto, to tie the score at 11-11 with 18 minutes to play.
Farmingdale State senior attack Theresa Rokee (Lindenhurst,
N.Y./Lindenhurst) stopped the Red Hawks streak with an unassisted goal
at 17:54, while Rothar added her own unassisted tally at 16:24.
DiBenedetto scored her final goal of the day to cut the Montclair
deficit to 13-12, but Rokee added the eventual game-winner with six
minutes to play, 14-12 Rams, and her team held the Red Hawks to one
goal as freshman goalkeeper and Tournament MVP Courtney Cook (Deer
Park, N.Y./Deer Park) made fives saves, two on free positions, to lead
the Rams to their first-ever Conference title.
Cook finished with 23 saves on the day, 10 in the first and 13 in the
second, while Rokee and Rothar both scored five goals in the win.
DiBenedetto finished with five goals for Montclair State, while sophomore goalkeeper Tracey Manella (Haworth, N.J./NV-Demarest) made four saves in defeat.