Montclair NJ (2/28/12) – Junior attack Kailee Beal (Succasunna, N.J../Roxbury) scored five goals and senior Cora Delfini (New Egypt, N.J./New Egypt) had four goals and three assists to lead Montclair State University to a easy 17-10 victory over Drew University at Sprague Field on Wednesday evening.

It was Montclair State's first season-opening win since 2007, when they also defeated Drew. MSU, 1-0 on the year, came out strong at the start and never looked back. The Red Hawks scored the first three goals and four of the first five over the opening five minutes to take a quick 4-1 lead. Beal scored three of the goals, one unassisted and two with assists from freshman attack Tierney Conlon (Caldwell, N.J./Caldwell). who had two goals and four assists in the contest. 

Drew, 0-1, managed to stop Montclair State briefly. Senior attack Aileen Musynske (Floral Park, N.Y./Floral Park Memorial), who had three goals and two assists, scored off a free position attempt to close the deficit to 4-2. But that would be as close as the Rangers would get.

MSU, which outshot Drew 18-8 in the first half, scored eight of the next nine goals over the final 22 minutes of the half to take a commanding 12-3 advantage at the halftime intermission. Sophomore attack Krissa Henderson (Landing, N.J./Roxbury), who contributed three goals and an assist in the game, scored twice along with Defini and Conlan to highlight the scoring spree.

The Rangers did make a couple of runs at the Red Hawks in the second half. Drew opened the half with goals by freshman midfielder Nikki Kleinman (Cranford, N.J./Cranford) and senior midfielder Lindsay Fry (Mountain Lakes, N.J./Morristown Beard), the first of a pair of goals for each player, to make the score 12-5.

But Montclair State responded with goals by Beal, sophomore midfielder Kelly Schoneveld (Danville, N.J./Morris Knolls), who had two goals and an assist and delfini to give the Red Hawks their largest margin of the game at 15-5 with 18:23 remaining.

Three more Drew goals, including one by senior attack Yasmin Baldini (Milton, Mass., Milton), who had two goals and an assist, got the Rangers to within six at 16-10. with 5:57 to play. 

But Drew was shut out the rest of the way. Junior goalkeeper Tiffani Henderson (Landing, N.J./Roxbury) has 10 saves for MSU.

Montclair State returns to action on Saturday when it travels to play Stevens at noon.