Montclair, NJ (10/20/07) – Freshman midfielder CHRIS EDELSCHEIN (Medford, NJ / Shawnee) scored a pair of goals while JOSEPH CULLEN (Clementon, NJ / Highland Regional) tallied another as Montclair State, ranked 15 th in the latest D3Kicks.com poll, knocked off Richard Stockton, 3-1 in New Jersey Athletic Conference men's soccer action at Sprague Field on Saturday evening.

Junior TYLER MASTERSON (Long Valley, NJ / West Morris Central) and sophomore JOHN ESPOSITO (Hillside, NJ / Hillside) each had assists as the Red Hawks moved to 14-2-1 on the season and 6-2 in the NJAC, inching a step closer toward a possible second seed and first-round bye in the upcoming NJAC Tournament. MSU also downed the Ospreys for the second consecutive year after suffering 10 straight losses to the Stockton from 1997-2005.

Rafael Duarte (Ocean City, NJ / Ocean City) had the lone goal for Richard Stockton, which dropped its third straight and fell to 9-7-2 overall. The loss was also damaging for the Ospreys as they continue to battle for the sixth and final spot in the conference tournament. Richard Stockton, now 2-5-1 in conference play, entered the evening three points behind Rowan for sixth place.

Montclair State would score the only goal of the first half as Esposito fed a pass to Edelschein on the right side. The freshman would then slip the ball just past Stockton goalkeeper Tim McKenna (Sewell, NJ / Gloucester Catholic) into the left side of the net his ninth tally of the lead and 1-0 MSU advantage at 22:38.

In the second half, Edelschein would extend the Red Hawks' lead 4:14 into the half with his second goal of the game and 10 th of the season, one shy of the team lead held by Masterson, who coincidentally provided the assist as Montclair led 2-0. Richard Stockton would close the gap less than four minutes later as Duarte collected his 15 th of the year off an assist from Pat Tolomeo (Ocean City, NJ / Ocean City) to cut the deficit to 2-1 with 36:55 to go. But Montclair restored its lead to two goals in the 67 th minute as Cullen, one of MSU's leaders in assists, scored his second of the year on a pass from WILLIAM GRIFFIN (Bloomfield, NJ / St. Peter's Prep).

Junior goalkeeper NICK MELE (Delran, NJ / Delran) made three saves as he record his 14th of the season and 31 st in the last two as he moved within two victories of Chris Owen for third place on the all-time MSU career list.

McKenna had six saves for Richard Stockton, which was outshot 21-6 in the contest although the Ospreys had a 7-4 edge in corner kicks.

Both teams return to action on Wednesday, October 24 as Montclair State travels to Mahwah, NJ to face Ramapo College at 3:30 pm. A win by the Red Hawks would give MSU a second-place finish in the conference. Richard Stockton is home on Monday, October 22 against Immaculata at 7:00 pm.