Kings Point, NY (4/20/05) – Senior KEVIN GONDRES (right) scored three times and recorded two assists as Montclair State used a strong second half to defeat Kings Point, 11-7 on Wednesday evening.

The victory helped the Red Hawks (7-6, 4-1 KLC) wrap up the No. 2 seed and a first-round home game in the upcoming Knickerbocker Conference Tournament. MSU will face Kings Point at Sprague Field on Wednesday, April 27.

EVAN WEHMEYER and JOHN DELLA PESCA had two goals apiece as the Red Hawks climbed above .500 for the first time this season. Sean Dougherty had four goals for the Mariners (4-6, 3-2 KLC).

Knotted at 4-4 entering the second half, Montclair State sored the first four goals of the period. BRYAN KLIMCHAK, the KLC Rookie of the Week, got his 15th of the season 54 seconds in and Gondres made the score, 6-4 with 13:19 left. Wehmeyer added his second of the game on the man-advantage with 8:26 to play before Delle Pesca netted the first of his two with just over five minutes to play.

Kings Point would get the final two scores of the third to make the score 8-6, but MSU answered with three consecituve tallies to start the final period. BRIAN FISCHER notched his 15th goal of the season and Della Pesca added his team-best 29th goal with 10:52 to play for a 10-6 Montclair lead. DAVE ARMSTRONG capped off the run with his 10th of the season with 6:56 remaining..

Freshman goalkeeper Tom Bowers made that lead stand up as he made 18 saves, including 10 in the second half with several coming on one-on-one opportunities. John Pagano had eight saves for Merchant Marine.

For Montclair State, Fischer had a goal and assist and six faceoff wins while Wehmeyer also had an assist and six wins on faceoffs. Defenseman ROI KLIPPER had a team-high eight ground balls and also tallied a goal, his second in as many games.

Montclair wraps up the regular season on Saturday, April 23 as they host New York Maritime at Sprague Field beginning at 1:00 pm.