Pomona, NJ (10/21/06) - Montclair State University (16-1, 8-0 NJAC), ranked 13th in Division III, used an OWEN NICHOLS (Princeton/Princeton) goal at 61:07 to defeat Richard Stockton ( 11-4-1 , 3-4-1 NJAC) 1-0 Saturday afternoon.

With the win, the Red Hawks clinched first place in the NJAC for the first time since capturing the conference title in 1989. MSU, which defeated Stockton for the first time since 1997 (0-7-1), will also be the No. 1 seed in the NJAC Tournament which gets underway on October 21. The Red Hawks will receive a first-round bye.

The 16 wins for MSU this season are the most since 1990 and one shy of the school record of 17 set in 1988.

Nichols connected from 25 yards away to score his first goal of the season on a pass from RAY CICCONE (Sparta/Sparta).

Nichols' goal helped sophomore goalkeeper NICK MELE (Delran/Delran) earn his 11 th win of the season. Mele helped preserve the victory for the Red Hawks by providing four saves for his sixth shutout of the season.

In the first half, Stockton had plenty of chances to score including a penalty kick attempt by midfielder Domenick Raimo (Delran/Delran) that was saved by Mele. Stockton had another good scoring chance when Sean McCallum (Vineland/Vineland) hit Butch Huff (Toms River/Toms River North) with a pass for a breakaway attempt that was kicked just over the net. Huff later received a cross from McCallum with 2:20 left in the first half and put a shot on net that was turned away by Mele.

MattHart ( Dayton , NJ / South Brunswick ) had five saves in the loss for Stockton , which out-shot Montclair State 16-10 in the match.

Montclair State will next play Ramapo back at home for a NJAC contest on Wednesday October 23 at 3 pm.