Montclair, NJ - The Montclair State University men's lacrosse team scored three of the first goals in the second half to break a tie and held on for a 12-11 win over DeSales (PA) University today at Sprague Field.

MSU, which scored three goals in five man-advantage opportunities this afternoon, improves to 2-0 this season, while DeSales falls to 0-2 on the year.

Sophomore midfielder BRIAN SHADIACK (Clifton, NJ/Clifton) paced the Red Hawk offense with three goals and four assists, while classmate RICH DOYEN (Basking Ridge, NJ/Ridge) tallied two goals and two assists and senior attacker CHRIS MEIXNER (Hamburg, NJ/Vernon) scored three goals. Doyen tallied the game-winning goal with 3:02 remaining in regulation to put MSU up, 12-10, and also offset a DeSales tally by freshman midfielder Charlie Mertz (Allentown, PA/Parkland) with 28 seconds left, Mertz's second goal of the game.

DSU senior midfielder Patrick Stringer (Cockeysville, MD/Dulaney) led all players with five goals and added an assist, while freshman midfielder Ben Kelley (Lee, NH/Oyster River) collected two goals and set up another for the Bulldogs.

DeSales took a 2-0 lead just four minutes into the contest on goals by Stringer and Merz, before MICHAEL EARL (South Brunswick, NJ/South Brunswick) got Montclair on the board with 7:51 left in the first. The teams then exchanged tallies before MSU scored four consecutive times spanning the first and second quarters for a 5-3 lead. DeSales then scored three of the next four goals, including a tally by Stringer with two seconds left in the half, for a 6-6 game at halftime.

After Stringer scored just 14 seconds into the second half to make it 7-6 DeSales, the Red Hawks responded with three straight goals, by Shadiack, junior KEVIN GONDRES (Fair Lawn, NJ/Fair Lawn), and sophomore JOHN DELLA PESCA (Fair Lawn, NJ/Fair Lawn) en route to a 10-8 lead after three periods of play.

Freshman goalkeeper ALAN ANNAZONE (Fair Lawn, NJ/Fair Lawn) recorded 10 saves in for the Red Hawks picking up his second victory in as many career starts, while Mike Hensinger (Macungie, PA/Emmaus) had 10 stops for the Bulldogs, who outshot Montclair, 37-31. MSU won 14 of the 25 face-offs on the day, and also held the edge in ground balls, 33-26. The Bulldogs were 1-for-4 when playing with an extra man.

MSU returns to action on Saturday, March 13, when it hosts Babson (MA) College at Sprague Field at 2:00 p.m., while DeSales plays Haverford (PA) at 10:00 a.m. that day down in Virginia.