Montclair, NJ (8/31/07) – Sophomore MEGAN WALSH (Lumberton, NJ/Rancocas Valley) and senior JENNIFER TANIS (Oak Ridge, NJ / Jefferson) each collected two goals and two assists as Montclair State, ranked 11 th in Division III, powered its way to a season-opening 9-1 win over SUNY Morrisville in NCAA Field Hockey action at Sprague Field on Friday.

Senior forward BRITTANY PALKO ( Medford, NJ / Shawnee) added two goals as the Red Hawks won their season opener for the sixth consecutive year.

Sophomore Jennie Hoag (Rome, NY/Mohawk Central) had the lone goal for the Mustangs (0-1), who received an outstanding effort from goalkeeper Stephanie Smith (Cedarville, NY/Mount Markham), who made 16 saves.

The Red Hawks wasted little time getting on the board as Tanis, MSU's all-time leading scorer, knocked in a pass in front of the cage from JENNA GALLO (Voorhees, NJ / Eastern) 4:18 into the contest to give Montclair the 1-0 lead. Tanis would set up MEGAN PIETRUNTI's (Middletown, NJ/ Red Bank Catholic) goal just under 11 minutes later and the Red Hawks tacked on another 39 seconds after that as Palko netted the first of her two first-half goals.

Tanis assisted on Walsh's first goal of the game at the 17:13 mark to extend the lead to 4-0 and Palko's second made it a five-goal advantage before the Mustangs got on the board. Lauren Bordonaro ( North Tonawanda, NY/Starpoint) moved in toward the cage along the right side before sliding a pass through the defense and on to the stick of Hoag, who tapped in the pass for Morrisville's first and only shot of the game with 14:54 to go before halftime.

In the second half, Walsh added her second of the game just over nine minutes into the period and Gallo struck from seven yards out two minutes later to push the Montclair State lead to 7-1. Sophomore ANNALISA VALERIO ( Norristown, PA / Kennedy Kendrick) notched her first career goal to make the score 8-1 and Tanis completed the MSU offensive onslaught with her second with 1:44 to play.

Montclair outshot the Mustangs, 33-1 as the combination of Jacque Supko (Moorestown, NJ / Moorestown), who played the first 61 minutes, and EMINA UDRJIA (West Paterson, NJ / Passaic Valley) did not make a save.

Montclair State returns to action on Wednesday, September 5 as the Red Hawks travel to Selinsgrove, PA to face Susquehanna University at 7:00 pm. SUNY Morrisville will meet Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY on Friday, September 7 at 5:00 pm.