Salisbury, MD - The Montclair State field hockey team is headed to the Final Four! The Red Hawks punched their ticket to the national semifinals on Sunday as they downed Rochester, 2-0 at Salisbury University.
Kate Norgard (Columbia, NJ, North Warren) and
Frances Schaefer (Egg Harbor City, NJ, Holy Spirit) each scored as MSU moves on to the NCAA Division III Field Hockey Championship for the first time in school history.
Montclair (21-1) will face Mary Washington (20-1) at 2:00 pm on Saturday, November 17 at William Smith College in Geneva, NY. DePauw will face Tufts in the other semifinal with the winners meeting on Sunday, November 18 for the national championship. It is the first trip to the Field Hockey Final Four for Montclair State, which is making its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance.
The Red Hawks used a familiar formula in picking up its 19th consecutive victory. Montclair's smothering defense allowed just three shots against the Yellow Jackets while getting scores from two of its top scorers.
Montclair outshot Rochester 9-2 in the first 35 minutes and had seven penalty corners however it took nearly the entire first half to find the back of the cage as Yellow Jacket keeper Madison Wagner stopped four shots with the Red Hawks'
Megan Bosland (Boonton, NJ, Boonton) stopping the only shot on goal by Rochester.
Late in the first half, Norgard got possession of the ball near midfield and nearly dribbled the entire length. Norgard pulled up at the penalty stroke mark and flipped a shot past Madison for the all-important first goal of the game. It was Norgard's 16th goal of the year and gave MSU a 1-0 lead it would carry into the half.
MSU provided more of the same over the final 35 minutes putting 10 more shots on the board, six of which were on target. Wagner was able to fend off five of them however she couldn't stop the sixth as Schaefer, who also collected her 16th goal, tipped in a shot from Norgard with 7:05 remaining for insurance.
Bosland posted her 10th shutout of the season and second in as many days.
NCAA Division III Field Hockey Bracket
