Upper Montclair, NJ - Junior attck CHRIS MEIXNER (Hamburg, NJ/Vernon) scored four goals and junior midfielder SEAN PEKARSKY (Clifton, NJ/Clifton) added three as second-seeded Montclair State advanced to the Championship Game of the 2003 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Metro Men's Lacrosse Tournament with a 13-6 victory over No. 3 seed Centenary College at Sprague Field on Friday afternoon.

Freshman attack JOHN DELLA PESCA (Fair Lawn, NJ/Fair Lawn) added three goals for the Red Hawks (11-4), who will face top-seeded Kings Point in the title game on Sunday, May 11th at 1:00 pm. MSU, which lost to Kings Point in 9-8 in overtime on April 19th is in the ECAC Final for the first time since 1994 when it last captured the crown.

Reese Baillie (Surrey, British Columbia/Earl Marriotte) had four goals for the Cyclones (7-8), who fell to Montclair State for the second time this season. Centenary dropped a 12-11 decision to MSU at Sprague Field on April 24th.

Baillie gave the Cyclones a 2-0 lead late in the first period as he scored his second goal with 5:13 to play in the opening period. However, MSU stormed back with four scores to take a 4-2 lead after one. Pekarsky scored with 4:08 left and Della Pesca tied the game seven seconds later. Meixner then put the Red Hawks ahead for good as he shoveled in a loose ball past Centenary goalkeeper

Ryan Seickel (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan). RICH DOYEN (Basking Ridge, NJ/Ridge) capped off the scoring with his goal at the 13:13 mark.

Centenary opened the second period with a goal to cut the lead to one, however, Meixner got his second and Della Pesca added his second marker for a 6-3 lead with 10:57 left before halftime. Montclair led 7-4 at the break.

Baillie's man-advantage goal with 11:34 to play in the third got the Cyclones within two, but KEVIN GONDRES (Fair Lawn, NJ/Fair Lawn) scored two straight and Meixner recorded the hat trick with 2:38 to left in the quarter as Montclair led 10-5 heading into the final period.

Craig Eliss (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater Raritan) had two goals for Centenary, while Gondres and Doyen each had two assists.

MSU outshot Centenary, 37-31. Red Hawk senior goaltender VINNY DEGENNARO (Fair Lawn, NJ/Fair Lawn) made 12 saves in goal while Seickel stopped 16 shots.