Upper Montclair, NJ (11/6/03) --- Reserve forward Brian Way (Ocean View, NJ/Middle Township) came off the bench to score two goals as third-seeded Rowan University knocked off second-seeded Montclair State, 4-1, in the semifinals of the New Jersey Athletic Conference Tournament held at MSU Soccer Park on Thursday afternoon.

Freshman Dwayne Reevey (Fair Haven, NJ/Rumson-Fair Haven) added a goal and an assist for the Profs (17-5), who now advance to the championship game on Saturday, November 8th either at top-seeded Richard Stockton or home against No. 5 seed Kean University. Rowan, which avenged a 1-0 loss to Montclair State (14-3-3) earlier this season, has won 12 NJAC titles, the last one coming in 2000. The winner of the NJAC Men's Soccer Tournament earns an automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament. Rowan has won six straight matches.

A scoreless first half turned into a shootout in the 65th minute as the Profs took the lead as David Halliwell (Shelmersdale, England/Winstanley) scored his eight goal of the season. Halliwell took a pass from Tim Babbitt (Landing, NJ/Roxbury) on the right side and fired a shot to the lower left post past MSU goalkeeper EDGARD DINTEN (Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge). Three minutes later, Way, who entered the game shortly after the first score, added his first tally and fourth of the season as he scored into an open net off a rebound.

Montclair State, which was making it first appearance in the NJAC Tournament since the inception in 1999, got back a goal with 14 minutes to play. SEAN HORAN (Tinton Falls, NJ/Red Bank Catholic) served a free kick into the scoring area where STEVE LEONARD (Pompton Plains, NJ/Pequannock) headed the ball to the far right post cutting the deficit to 2-1. However, the Profs answered right back as Reevey got a shot past Dinten at the 78:27 mark for a two-goal advantage.

Way then capped off Rowan's scoring with his second goal in an unusual fashion. Stopped on his initial shot, the ball bounced out to an MSU defender, who tried to clear the ball. But the clearing shot caught the back of Way's foot and caromed back into the goal making the score 4-1 with 9:41 left.

Anthony Clemente (Kendall Park, NJ/South Brunswick) made seven saves, including several key stops for Rowan. Clemente denied the Red Hawks on two point-blank attempts with 6:50 left in the first half and then stopped RYAN MORGAN (Princeton, NJ/Princeton) on the doorstep two minutes later. Clemente then came up with another big save early in the second half as he again stymied Morgan with a kick save right in front of the goalmouth.

Dinten had five saves for Montclair State, which was outshot in the contest, 23-15.

The Red Hawks will now play the waiting game to se if they are selected to the NCAA Tournament as those pairings will be announced on Sunday, November 9. MSU is also eligible for the ECAC Division III Metro Tournament, which begins on the November 12. The eight-team ECAC field will be selected on Monday, November 10. Last year, the Red Hawks, who were the seventh seed in the ECAC's, finished runner-up losing to Stevens Tech, 1-0 in overtime.