Grantham, PA (11/17/07) – Junior forward TYLER MASTERSON (Long Valley, NJ / West Morris Central) scored perhaps the biggest goal in Montclair State men's soccer history knocking in a shot with 3:45 left in the first overtime as the Red Hawks moved into the Elite 8 of the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time in school history with a 3-2 victory over New Jersey City in the Sectional semifinals at Messiah College on Saturday evening.

The goal puts the Red Hawks one win away from the NCAA Division III Final Four as MSU improved to 19-2-1 on the season defeating New Jersey City for the second time in two weeks as the teams were meeting for the third time in 33 days. MSU posted 1-0 over the Gothic Knights in the NJAC Championship Game back on November 3.

MSU is now 4-6-1 all-time in NCAA Division III Tournament play as it is making its eighth appearance and second straight. Last year, the Red Hawks were eliminated in very same round by Dominican College in penalty kicks (4-2). Montclair will face three-time defending national champion Messiah College on Sunday, November 18 at 6:00 pm with a trip to Disney Wide World of Sports and the Final Four which will be held on November 23-24.

Masterson's goal, his second of the game, ended what turned out to be another hard-fought classic battle between to of the Metro Region's top teams over the past two seasons. Both teams entered the game ranked by both D3Kicks.com and the National Soccer Coaches Association (NSCAA). New Jersey City was ranked No. 7 and Montclair 16th in the last NSCAA poll on October 30 just prior to the NJAC Tournament. In the last D3Kicks.com poll, it was the Red Hawks sitting at 13 th and NJCU at 22nd.

Masterson, the Red Hawks' leading scorer gave MSU a 1-0 lead just 2:31 into the game as he collected his 15th of the year off assists from freshmen MIKE KROL (Howell, NJ / Howell) and JOHN ESPOSITO (Hillside, NJ / Hillside) . New Jersey City would tie the match with 12:54 left in the first half as NJAC Offensive Player of the Year Cristhian Acuna knocked in a pass from Edison Bilbao as the teams were tied 1-1 at halftime.

In the second half, freshman AYTAC MALTA (Lake Hiawatha, NJ / Parsippany), who scored the game-winning goal in the NJAC title contest, regained the lead for the Red Hawks with his seventh goal of the year at the 77:52 mark as MSU led 2-1.

But with 1:52 left Acuna struck again tying the match and the game headed to overtime.

In the extra period, goalkeeper NICK MELE (Delran, NJ / Delran) made a save on Jonathan Bilbao's shot. Back came the Red Hawks as OWEN NICHOLS (Princeton, NJ / Princeton) put a shot on goal that Gothic Knight netminder Andre Viola made a save on keeping the game tied. But just over a minute later, Masterson banged home the game-winner to send the Red Hawks into the Elite 8.

Mele made four saves as MSU outshot the Gothic Knights, 14-10 and held a 6-3 edge in corner kicks.

Montclair State holds a 42-8-4 lead in the series that began back in 1959. The Red Hawks held a major advantage recently going unbeaten against the Gothic Knights from 1986(22-0-1) until the 3-0 loss on October 13.