Montclair, NJ (9/27/06) – Sophomore midfielder JENNIFER KELLEHER (Englishtown, NJ/Old Bridge) scored off a corner kick with 24 seconds remaining to lift Montclair State to a 2-1 victory over Rutgers-Newark in New Jersey Athletic Conference Women's Soccer action at MSU Soccer Park at Pittser Field on Wednesday afternoon.

Freshman NATALIA SISTI (Lincoln Park, NJ/DePaul Catholic) had a goal and an assist for the Red Hawks, who won their second straight and improved to 7-2 overall, 2-1 in the NJAC. The win was also MSU's seventh against the Scarlet Raiders in as many meetings between the teams.

Tanya Groszew (Denville, NJ/Morris Knolls) scored the lone goal for Rutgers-Newark, which fell to 5-4 overall and 1-3 in the NJAC.

Tied 1-1 heading into the final minute the Red Hawks worked the ball down toward the end line and were awarded a corner kick as the clock ticked off the final half minute. Sisti lofted the ball across the goalmouth where Kelleher tapped in the pass for her first career goal. Kelleher had re-entered the game with 3:25 to play after an injury to a Montclair State player.

Until the goal by Montclair the Scarlet Raiders held the upper hand for most of the action in the second half outshooting Montclair State , 9-5. MSU netminder KRISTIN KUHMANN ( Beachwood , NJ / Toms River South) came up with two saves on consecutive shots early in the period to keep the Red Hawks in front. But the third rebound of the sequence bounced out to Groszew, who flipped a shot into the upper right corner for her second tally of the year at 55:55.

Rutgers-Newark nearly took the lead 10 minutes later as Groszew fired a shot from 20-yards out on the right side that Kuhmann punched over the top of the net. Kuhmann also made a diving save on Alison Phillips' ( Buena , NJ /Buena Regional) attempt at 69:07 and then denied Alex Gastulo (Little Falls, NJ/Passaic Valley) three minutes later to keep the game deadlocked.

Kuhmann finished with eight saves while Katie Hastings ( Haddon Heights , NJ / Haddon Heights ) made three stops. The two made three saves apiece in the first half as the game went scoreless until inside two minutes remaining before halftime.

Montclair 's DARA NALVEN ( Old Bridge , NJ / Old Bridge ) raced down the right side with the ball and made a perfect crossing pass onto the head of Sisti, who flicked the ball into the left side of the net for her seventh goal of the season.
Rutgers-Newark outshot Montclair State , 14-13 with the Red Hawks holding a 9-5 advantage in corner kicks.

Montclair State returns to action on Saturday, September 30 as they travel to Camden to face the Scarlet Raptors of Rutgers-Camden in a 1:00 pm conference matchup. Likewise, the Scarlet Raiders will also be in action as they host No. 2 ranked The College of New Jersey in Newark at 7:00 pm .