Upper Montclair, NJ (10/15/02) --- Junior Megan Ulicny (Edgewood, NJ/Edgewood) scored off the rebound of her own shot at 5:31 of overtime to lift the Montclair State University field hockey team to a 2-1 victory tonight against Kean University at Sprague Field in a New Jersey Athletic Conference contest. Montclair is now 7-3 overall and 2-1 in NJAC play, while Kean falls to 7-5 overall and 0-3 in the conference.
Ulicny's second shot struck the left goalpost and glanced off of Kean freshman goalkeeper CONCETTA VALERIO (Norristown, PA/Kennedy-Kenrick) before rolling across the goal line. Valerio had earlier denied Ulicny from in close twice in the overtime, while Ulicny also had a goal disallowed early in the second half. Ulicny now leads MSU with six goals in 10 games, including three game-winning goals.
Kean freshman forward TINA BROOMFIELD (Ewing, NJ/Ewing) tallied the only goal of the first half, spinning around at the right post to knock in a rebound with 12:03 left. Sophomore forward LAURA POINTON (Hamilton, NJ/Nottingham) assisted on the play - her shot off a Kean penalty corner was stopped by MSU junior goalkeeper TRISHA WINKLE, but the rebound came to Broomfield, who spun and scored.
The Red Hawks tied the game 5:30 into the second half as sophomore
LISA SMICKLO (Toms River, NJ/Toms River East) scored off a rebound in front, wth freshman Elyse Winkle (Forked River, NJ/Lacey Township) recording her first career point with an assist. MSU then appeared to take a 2-1 lead with 26:51 left in regulation on a high shot by Ulicny, but the goal was negated by the officials.
The Red Hawks outshot the Cougars, 20-16, in regulation, with Winkle making eight saves and Valerio making seven stops. Valerio stopped Ulicny on an unscreened shot from 10 yards out just 17 seconds into overtime, and then again from five yards out 1:14 later before Ulicny ended it just over four minutes later. MSU had all five shots in the extra session and outshot Kean, 25-16, overall with Winkle finishing with eight saves and Valerio with nine stops.
Montclair completed its four-game homestand begun Oct. 4 with a record of 3-1, and is now 4-1 at home so far this fall. The Red Hawks now visit Wilkes (PA) University on Saturday, Oct. 19, at 2:00 p.m. in a non-conference contest. MSU is 5-2 outside the NJAC this season, and 3-2 overall in road games.