Mahwah, NJ (5/3/03) -- The Lady Pioneers of William Paterson defeated the Red Hawks of Montclair State, 2-0, today in the preliminary finals of the 2003 NJAC Softball Tournament. William Paterson entered the finals in the losing bracket, needing two victories over Montclair to take the crown. The second-seeded Lady Pioneers advanced by topping host and top seed Ramapo College, 7-3, in the first game today. William Paterson, which fell to third-seeded Montclair by a 4-2 count on Thursday, pushed the double-elimination tournament to a game seven with today's victory over the Red Hawks. WPU and MSU will now face off on Sunday, May 4, at noon at Ramapo College for the conference crown and an automatic berth in the 2003 NCAA Division III softball tournament.

The game was scorless until the 4th inning when William Paterson posted its only two runs of the game, by Pam Migliaccio (Rockaway, NJ) and Morgan Dunlap (Jefferson Township, NJ). The runs were driven in on a single by Danielle Patlen (Kinnelon, NJ) afterMigliaccio and Dunlap reached on a fielder's choice and an error, respectively. WPU rookie pitcher Jennifer Scott (Mount Ephraim, NJ) pitched a no-hitter with three walks and three strikeouts. Junior pitcher CRYSTAL SWEENEY (Edison, NJ) took the loss for the Red Hawks, falling to 19-5 this spring after recording one strikeout and two walks over seven innings. Liz Carroll (Dennisville, NJ) went 2-for-3 for the Lady Pioneers, while Dunlap was 1-for-3 with one run and Patlen had two hits to go along with two RBIs.

William Paterson registered two runs on six hits with two errors, while Montclair was held scoreless with no hits with two errors. It was only the third time Montclair was shut out this season, and the first time MSU had gone hitless in a game this spring. William Paterson improves to 26-10-1 overall while Montclair falls to 33-8 overall. Montclair State is now 3-1 against WPU this season, including a two-game NJAC sweep at MSU back on Monday, April 21.