Upper Montclair , NJ(3/28/02) - The Montclair State University men's lacrosse team hosted DeSales (PA) University tonight at Sprague Field and came away with a come-from-behind 11-10 victory in the second sudden-death overtime session. Montclair State sophomore SEAN PEKARSKY (Clifton, NJ) finished a personal six-goal game by tallying the game-winner at 1:08 of the second overtime, on the first and only shot of overtime, assisted by junior ANTHONY MOSCA (Clifton, NJ). MSU improves to 4-1 this spring, while DeSales falls to 3-5.

MSU held a 3-2 lead after 15 minutes, paced by two goals from Pekarsky after DeSales freshman Brian Kuttler (Doylestown, PA) had opened the scoring just 2:45 into the contest. DeSales senior goalkeeper Joe Devine (Philadelphia, PA) stopped MSU senior NICK BOMBADIER (Fair Lawn, NJ) from 15 yards out with 4:40 remaining in the first quarter, a minute before Pekarsky scored his first of two first-period goals to tie the game at 2-2. He then put MSU ahead for the first time, 3-2, with his tally at 13:04.

Pekarsky struck again just 12 seconds into the second quarter, and MSU sophomore CHRIS MEIXNER (Hamburg, NJ) made it 5-2 just 67 seconds later with his second score of the night. Meixner then added his third goal at 3:25 of the second stanza to make it 6-2 for Montclair. DU freshman Brian Bottini (Westfield, NJ) ended a run of four straight MSU goals with his tally at 4:19, and then sophomore Patrick Stringer (Cockeysville, MD) made it 6-4 with his first goal at 6:29 before MATT VON KLEMPERER (Summit, NJ) restored MSU's three-goal lead at 9:09. Montclair junior goalkeeper VINNY DEGENNARO made a point-blank stick save on DU sophomore Brendan Bray (East Northport, NY) on a breakaway with 2:51 left before halftime, before Stringer and Pekarsky exchanged goals just 25 seconds apart to make it 8-5 MSU. Bottini completed his hat trick for the Bulldogs with 1:04 left in the first half, before DeGennaro stopped a shot by DU sophomore Ryan Barrat (Center Valley, PA) all the way from midfield as the half ended.

DeSales pulled to within a goal at 7:55 of the third quarter as Bray scored, and then tied the contest just 24 seconds later as Barat set up sophomore Dave Mantz (Coplay, PA) near the MSU goal. DeSales then took its first lead in over 35 minutes as Kuttler tallied his second score at 12:58 to complete a 3-0 quarter for the Bulldogs. Pekarsky tied the game for the Red Hawks with his fifth tally of the night at 4:12 of the fourth frame, as Montclair freshman KEVIN GONDRES (Fair Lawn, NJ) notched his third assist of the night. DeGennaro then stopped Barratt from in close with nine-and-half minutes remaining in regulation, only to see DeSales regain the lead on Kuttler's third goal of the game at 9:28. The score stayed the same until Meixner came down the right side, rounded the DeSales cage and whipped a low shot past Devine for his fourth goal with just four seconds left on the clock to send the contest into sudden-death overtime.

Stringer fired wide from the left from 15 yards out with 2:14 left in the first OT, and Barratt did likewise from the right side with 1:04 remaining as DeSales carried the play in the inaugural extra session. Pekarsky then ended the evening in the second OT with a shot from the left side after a feed from Mosca from behind the DeSales cage. DeGennaro finished with 12 saves for Montclair, while Devine made nine stops for DeSales.