Montclair, NJ (11/3/06) – Junior midfielder OWEN NICHOLS (Princeton, NJ/Princeton) scored with 1:12 remaining in the second overtime to lift 10th-ranked and top-seeded Montclair State to its first New Jersey Athletic Conference title in 17 years as the Red Hawks edged third-seeded and 24th-ranked New Jersey City University, 2-1 at Sprague Field on Friday evening.

Senior RYAN MORGAN ( Princeton, NJ/ Princeton) had a goal for MSU (19-1), which earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament as Montclair captured its first NJAC championship since 1989 and seventh overall. The Red Hawks, who went 11-0 against league opponents this season (regular-season and tournament), will make their first appearance in the NCAAs since 1998.

Selections for the tournament will be announced on Monday, November 6. It will be the Red Hawks' seventh trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Patrick Thomas ( Roselle, NJ/ Linden) had the lone goal for New Jersey City ( 15-5-2), which will now wait to see if it will be one of the 17 at-large teams selected to the field. The Gothic Knights, who were appearing in their second conference tournament final, were seeking their first NJAC crown since 1968.

It is also the second time this season that NJCU lost to Montclair State as the Red Hawks also posted a 3-1 win at Sprague Field on October 14 and continued their dominance over the Gothic Knights as they ran their unbeaten streak to 22 games. NJCU last defeated Montclair in 1986.

With the game just 72 seconds away from being decided by penalty kicks, the ball bounced several times inside the NJCU scoring area and the Gothic Knights made an attempt to clear the ball. However, the attempt got on to the feet of Nichols, who rocketed a shot through the defenders and goalie Bruce Neves ( Newark, NJ/Hudson Catholic) for the championship-winning tally. It was Nichols' second goal of the season and second game-winning marker as he also had the game-winner in MSU's 1-0 over Richard Stockton on October 21.

After a scoreless first half, New Jersey City took a 1-0 lead 7:12 into the second half as Thomas collected his fifth goal of the season. Cristhian Acuna ( East Newark, NJ/ Harrison) lifted a pass over the Montclair State defense and inside the 18. Thomas then headed the feed from the back corner to the right side of the net past the outstretched arms of Red Hawks goalkeeper NICK MELE ( Delran, NJ/Delran).

That's the way the game stood until the 72:44 mark when All-NJAC defender TODD TUMELTY (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) dumped a ball from midfield over the defense into the six-yard box. The ball bounced up to Morgan, who drove a header into the turf that bounced over the goal line for his 12th goal of the season.

Montclair State nearly took the lead less than three minutes later, but Neves came up with a save on BILL ANTHES' ( Cranford, NJ/ Cranford) header at 75:29. New Jersey City got the first chance to end the game in the first overtime. Edison Bilbao ( Carteret, NJ/ St. Benedict's Prep) rifled a shot from the left side with 1:17 left that Mele stopped to keep the game tied.

Neves and Mele each made seven saves in the game as Montclair State outshot New Jersey City, 19-13 and also held the slim 7-6 advantage in corner kicks.