Staten Island, NY (10/26/08) - Sophomore forward Laura Palumbo scored two second-half goals to lead the New York University women's soccer team to a 2-1 victory over Montclair State University on Sunday at the College of Staten Island.

The first half was an evenly contested battle, and the teams were deadlocked 0-0 at halftime. The Violets held a slight 5-4 advantage in shots on goal at intermission, with sophomore Filiz Kipcakli leading the way with four. The Red Hawks were led by senior ANGELA MARTONE, who had three shots on NYU goalkeeper Alex Walters.

Palumbo opened up the scoring at 46:00 when she received a pass from Kipcakli and dribbled the ball up to the top of the 18. She shot it hard up into the top right corner past Montclair goalie LEAH TEPPERMAN (North Andover, MA / North Andover) for her fifth goal of the season. Kipcakli was credited with her third assist of the season.

The Red Hawks tied things up six minutes later when the team's leading scorer, RACHEL SENYSZYN (Succasunna, NJ / Roxbury), scored her ninth goal of the season, assisted by SYMONE SELDON (Trenton, NJ / Ewing), at 52:00.

Both teams put offensive pressure on, but the two defenses were outstanding. The Violets were able to break through once again at 64:13 with Palumbo's second goal of the game. She shot the ball into the lower right corner of the net with an assist by freshman Erica Jones.

The Red Hawks were unable to answer back, and NYU held on for the win.

Walters made seven saves for the Violets, while her counterpart Tepperman saved nine shots. Montclair held a 23-20 overall shot advantage.

With the win, the Violets improve to 10-5-1, while the Red Hawks fall to 8-9-1.

The Red Hawks close out their regular season on Wednesday, Ocotber 29 at New Jersey City beginning at 3:30 pm. A win by MSU would give Montclair the No. 4 seed and a first-round home game in the NJAC Tournament which begins on Saturday. Montclair could also climb into third place with a win and loss by The College of New Jersey.