Upper Montclair, NJ - The Montclair State University men's soccer team opened its 2001 campaign with a 3-2 overtime victory over Washington (MD) College this afternoon at the MSU Soccer Park at Pittser Field. Freshman midfielder MATT CASWELL (Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway) scored off a direct kick at 97:32 for his first collegiate goal to give MSU the win as the Red Hawks kept alive their hopes for a second consecutive Howard Johnson Cup, and third such title in four years.

Sophomore midfielder OSEI BONSU (Parlin, NJ/Old Bridge) opened the scoring for Montclair at 6:41, converting a corner kick set-up from freshman midfielder ANDREW MACHO (N. Arlington, NJ/N. Arlington) before Washington freshman forward Tom Baker (Baltimore, MD/Archbishop Curley) tied the game at 41:30 off a crossing pass by junior midfielder Steve Yurchak (Franklinville, NJ/Delsea Regional). Bonsu then put MSU up, 2-1, at 50:35 on a perfectly-placed shot to the upper left corner of the net from 15 yards out, before junior defender Tim Buckless (Bel Air, MD/John Carroll) came off the Washington bench to redirect home a feed by senior midfielder Chris Hastings (Glenelg, MD/River Hill) to pull the Sho'Men back into a tie at 64:05.

MSU senior goalkeeper ALEX LUNA (Newark, NJ/Hudson Catholic) finished with six saves while Washington freshman netminder Ryan Miller (Bel Air, MD/Fallston) made two saves as Montclair outshot Washington, 11-10. MSU (1-0) returns to action tomorrow against Rhode Island College at 2:00 p.m. RIC dropped a 2-0 decision today at William Paterson University, which hosts Washington tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. at Wightman Field in Wayne, NJ.