Upper Montclair, NJ (11/7/03) - Junior midfielder Stephanie Peters (Pennington, NJ/Hopewell Valley Central) scored the game's only goal with just over 30 minutes remaining in regulation at Sprague Field to lift The College of New Jersey women's soccer team, ranked 23rd in the nation, to its fifth consecutive New Jersey Athletic Conference tournament title with tonight's 1-0 triumph at 19th-ranked Montclair State University.

The Lions, who also garnered the conference's automatic bid to the 2003 NCAA Division Championships with the win, have now won the NJAC Championship nine times in all, and are the only school to claim the post-season conference crown since the tournament was inaugurated in 1999. TCNJ also defeated MSU, 2-0, last year in Ewing for the 2002 title, in the Red Hawks' first-ever conference championship game appearance. This also marked the first year that second-seeded TCNJ was not the top seed in the tournament, with MSU garnering the first seed this fall with a 7-1-1 NJAC record.

Peters tallied her seventh goal of the season at 59:21 at the left post of the MSU net, heading in a pass from the right side by classmate Katie Egan (Brick, NJ/Brick Township) to put the Lions ahead for good. TCNJ outshot MSU, 10-6, and had four of the game's five corner kicks. Sophomore goalkeeper Alissa Kacar (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) had two saves for the Lions, while junior netminder SUSAN HINDS (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) did the same for Montclair State.

TCNJ also avenged a 2-1 loss to Montclair back on Oct. 25 at MSU Soccer Park at Pittser Field, the first time the Red Hawks (13-5-1 overall) had ever bested the Lions (15-4). Tonight's game had originally been scheduled for this afternoon at that same site, until MSU Soccer Park became unplayable due to the inclement weather in the Montclair area the last few days.

TCNJ returns to the NCAA Division III Tournament seeking its fourth national title after previously winning in 1993, 1994 and 2000. MSU will now play the "waiting game" to see if it is selected to either the NCAA or ECAC Tournaments. The Red Hawks have made the ECACs the last four years, winning the Division III Metro championship in 2000.