Grantham, PA (11/18/07) – The most successful season in Montclair State history ended on Sunday in the rain as the Red Hawks fell to three-time defending national champion Messiah College, 1-0 in the Elite 8 of the NCAA Division III Soccer Championship, one step away from the Final Four.

The loss was MSU's first since October 13 snapping a six-game winning streak as Montclair, which advanced further in the NCAAs than it ever had before, ends the season at 19-3-1. Over the past two season, Montclair has gone an amazing 39-4-2 winning back-to-back NJAC Championships and reaching the NCAA Tournament in consecutive years for the first time since 1991-92.

MSU was also making its eighth appearance overall in the NCAA Division III Tournament and is now 4-7-1 all time in tournament play.

Following a grueling 3-2 overtime win against league rival New Jersey City on Saturday, the Red Hawks battled the Falcons toe-to-toe through the first half as the teams combined for 10 shots with Messiah getting the edge, 6-4. MSU would get three of the first four opportunities, however each attempt went wide. MSU goalkeeper NICK MELE (Delran, NJ / Delran) kept the game scoreless as he made two saves in the latter part of the first half.

Sophomore JOSEPH CULLEN (Clementon, NJ / Highland Regional) got the Red Hawks' best scoring opportunity of the period, but his shot with 7:44 left was saved by Jared Clugston.

In the second half, Montclair had the first two scoring chances, but Clugston made saves on attempts by CHRIS EDELSCHEIN (Medford, NJ / Shawnee) and JOHN ESPOSITO (Hillside, NJ / Hillside) as the game remained deadlocked heading into the final 20 minutes.

But at the 71-minute mark the Falcons finally broke through as Nick Thompson took a cross from Kai Kasiguran and deposited the ball into the back of the net for what turned out to be the only goal of the game. The Red Hawks did not go down without a fight and came within inches of tying the game with 3:50 left, but Cullen's shot clanked off the post.

Mele made four saves for Montclair State while Clugston also stopped four. Messiah held the edge in shots, 12-9 and had an 8-2 advantage in corner kicks.