Box Score

St. Davids, PA (9/1/11) – Sophomore forward Jennifer Tafro (Little Falls, NJ / Passaic Valley) and senior forward Devin McNamara (Mount Royal, NJ / Gloucester Catholic) scored less than three minutes apart in the first half and those two goals held up as Montclair State opened its 2011 campaign with an important victory as the Red Hawks downed No. 9 Eastern University, 2-1.

Junior goalkeeper Megan Bosland (Boonton, NJ / Boonton) stopped nine shots, including two off a penalty corner inside the final three minutes as the Red Hawks (1-0) avenged a pair of season-opening losses to the Eagles in each of the past two seasons. Eastern posted a 3-2 win in 2009 and followed that up with a 4-1 victory in Montclair last year.

Montclair outshot the Eagles 9-5 in the first half, however the Red Hawks were denied a goal on their first four opportunities as Eastern keeper Christin Suetterlein turned away each shot, including back-to-back attempts by Tafro and Brittany Carroll (Kingston, NY / Rondout Valley). Just past the 25-minute mark, MSU got a penalty corner and took advantage as Tafro blasted a shot into the lower right corner for the goal. Sophomore Allison Jillions (Hainesport, NJ / Holy Cross) got the assist as the Red Hawks led 1-0 with 9:40 to go in the opening period.

MSU extended the lead on McNamara’s goal at 28:04 as again the Red Hawks capitalized on a penalty corner. Junior Michelle Hagel (Fairfield, NJ / West Essex) fired a hard shot toward the cage that McNamara was able to redirect past Suetterlein for the goal as Montclair State took a 2-0 advantage into the break.

In the second half, Eastern clamped down on the Red Hawks defensively as Montclair managed just one shot. The Eagles then quickly cut the lead in half as Sarah Webb slammed home a shot 5:01 into the period making the score 2-1.
Bosland through kept that lead intact making five saves over the final 30 minutes of the half, the last two with three minutes to play. Off a penalty corner by Eastern, Bosland stopped Jess Jaindl and then recovered to deny Moyer on a rebound.

Eastern would outshoot Montclair State 14-10 in the game and held an 11-6 advantage in penalty corners however the Red Hawks led in the most important statistic – the final score.

The Red Hawks will open up the home portion of their schedule on Saturday, September 3 as they host Rensselaer at Sprague Field beginning at 1:00 pm.