West Haven, CT (3/06/05) –Chris Meade posted a natural hat-trick during a seven-goal outburst in the second period as No. 17 Wesleyan (CT) pulled away before halftime en route to an 18-6 victory over Montclair State on Sunday afternoon.

JAMES KOLE (right) had three goals for the Red Hawks (1-2).

Wesleyan (1-0) led 2-1 after the first quarter and took a 3-1 lead as Mike Walsh scored on a man-advantage just over three minutes into the period. MSU got back within a goal as JOHN DELLA PESCA tallied the first of his two goals 18 seconds later.

But Wesleyan broke the game open scoring three times in a two-minute span and the final six of the period. Chris Knacke got the run going with a goal at 8:40 remaining and Meade connected on two straight 24 seconds apart to make the score 6-2. Another goal by Meade with 3:41 to go gave the Cardinals a five-goal advantage and Mike Hines scored with 2:33 to play making the score, 8-2. Meade then capped off the run with his fourth of the period and fifth of the half.

Montclair State would get as close as 10-4 with 8:22 to play in the third quarter as KEVIN GONDRES and Kole scored, the latter coming with 8:22 to play. However, Mike Vitulano and Knacke scored within a minute late in the period and Hines added his second of the contest to restore the lead to 13-4.

Gondres finished with a goal and three assists for the Red Hawks, who got 23 saves from freshman goalkeeper THOMAS BOWERS.

Knacke had three goals nad Vitulano two for Wesleyan, which outshot Montclair, 62-25 in the game. Matt Wheeler made seven saves in 52 minutes before giving way to Whit Harrison and Charlie Congleton, who made two saves.

The Red Hawks return to action on Saturday, March 12 as they return home to face the Warriors of Eastern Connecticut State at 1:00 pm.