Upper Montclair, NJ (08/27/03) — The Montclair State women's soccer team will face a familiar foe in Lynchburg College as they open the 2003 season at the Haverford College Kickoff Classic on August 30th and 31st.

The Red Hawks return 15 letterwinners from last year's squad that finished 12-7-2 and advanced to the Championship Games of both the New Jersey Athletic Conference and ECAC Division III Metro tournaments.

This will be the third time in four years that MSU will meet Lynchburg in the Haverford Kickoff Classic. In 2001, the team played to a 0-0, but the Red Hawks won the game in kicks, 3-2. In 2000, Montclair fell, 2-1.

The winner of the game will advance to the championship game on Sunday, August 31st against either host Haverford or Arcadia.

Perhaps the biggest questions to be answered for the Red Hawks this season is who becomes the new MSU goalkeeper. All-American STEPHANIE ROMANKO, who played every minute of every game the last four seasons and set an NCAA record for minutes played (7,842) has departed meaning for the first time since the end of the 1998 season, the Montclair will see a new person in net.

Junior SUSAN HINDS (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) appears to be the frontrunner for the job, however, she faces competition from freshman KRISTIN KUHMANN (Beachwood, NJ/Toms River South) and sophomore IRIS REYES (Dover, NJ/Morris Hills).

While the goaltender will be new for the Red Hawks, there are plenty of familiar faces. Up front, Montclair returns First-Team All-Region selection STEPHANIE SABALIAUSKAS (Edison, NJ/Mt. St. Mary Academy). "Sabs", named First-Team All-NJAC, led the team in scoring as she tallied 13 goals and 30 points and ranked among the Top 10 in the NJAC in scoring. Sabaliauskas will be joined by junior SHIRAH ODEH (Pompton Lakes, NJ/Pompton Lakes), who scored six goals and sophomore KELLY DUTKO (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert). Dutko led the team with seven assists and also contributed three goals.

In the midfield, MSU will be solid as with seniors JESSICA KOCH (Blackwood, NJ/Triton), KRISTIN WEBER (Union, NJ/Union) and STEPHANIE SANTOS (East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park). The trio were solid both offensively and defensively as the combined for five goals and three assists.

Defensively, junior GABBY WHITE (Garwood, NJ/Arthur L. Johnson), a Third-Team All-Region pick in 2002, will anchor the unit that finished second in the NJAC in goals allowed.