Upper Montclair, NJ - The Montclair State University men's lacrosse team improved to 3-2 overall this year by edging visiting SUNY Maritime tonight at Sprague Field in MSU's 2003 Knickerbocker Lacrosse Conference opener.

MSU junior midfielder Nick Biello (Fair Lawn, NJ) tallied the game-winning goal unassisted just 30 seconds into the fourth quarter to break a 5-5 tie. SUNY Maritime falls to 0-2 both overall and in the conference.

Montclair State led 2-1 after one quarter and 3-1 at halftime before taking a 4-1 lead early in the third stanza. The visiting Privateers then scored three times in 93 seconds to knot the game at 4-4, and the teams then exchanged single tallies before Biello scored the lone goal of the final frame, his first tally of the season.

Junior attackman SEAN PEKARSKY (Clifton, NJ) tallied a goal and an assist for Montclair, as did senior DAVE GONDRES (Fair Lawn, NJ). Sophomore attacker KEVIN GONDRES (Fair Lawn, NJ) and freshman RICH DOYEN (Basking Ridge, NJ) scored MSU's other two goals.

Freshman attacker Kevin Swift (New Market, MD) paced the Privateers with a goal and two assists, all in the third quarter on consecutive goals. Senior goalkeeper VINNY DEGENNARO (Fair Lawn, NJ) had six saves for the Red Hawks, who outshot the Privateers by a 39-18 count.

Senior netminder Chris Maro (South Huntington, NY) finished with 13 saves for SUNY Maritime, which went 0-for-2 in mad-advantage opportunities. MSU was 2-for-7 with the man advantage, getting extra man goals from Pekarsky and Doyen.

MSU will now host conference rival Richard Stockton College on Saturday, March 22, at 1:00 p.m. The Ospreys defeated the Red Hawks, 10-7, last spring in Pomona, with both teams eventually finishing 5-2 in KLC play.