Montclair, NJ – Sophomore forward Francesca Gibson (Cape May, NJ, Lower Cape May Regional) scored in the fifth round of penalty kicks, nailing the decisive attempt as 13th-ranked and top-seeded Montclair State claimed its second New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship as the Red Hawks outlasted sixth-seeded Kean following a scoreless draw.

The Red Hawks were a perfect 5-for-5 and claimed the title outshooting the Cougars 5-3 in the shootout. Montclair (15-1-3) earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and will be among the field of teams announced when the NCAA releases its 2012 bracket on Monday, November 5 at 2:00 pm on NCAA.com.

MSU will be making its third NCAA Division III Tournament appearance and first since the 2006 campaign. Montclair State made its first trip in 2004 after winning its other NJAC title, also won on penalty kicks as the Red Hawks, like they did this year, won the championship with shootout wins in both the semifinals and title contest.

The Red Hawks got past Kean for a second time this season however this contest was a far cry from the 4-3 overtime win by MSU on October 10.

Montclair State outshot Kean 21-12 in the match, including 10-2 over the final 45 minutes of regulation.  Kean held the edge in shots 7-4 in the two overtime periods however neither would matter as Red Hawks keeper Gina Policastro (East Brunswick, NJ, East Brunswick) and Kean goalie KC Nunez did not allow a ball into the back of the net.

In the shootout, Kean won the toss and elected to go second. Freshman Martina Landeka (Westfield, NJ, Westfield) scored however the Cougars' Juliana Natale could not convert giving Montclair a 1-0 lead after the first round. From that point on each team would be successful on their next three kicks as MSU's Brittany Casares (Rahway, NJ, Rahway), Melissa Koster (Yardville, NJ, Steinert) and Claire Midili (Sewell, NJ, Washington Township) all came away with goals leaving Montclair with a 4-3 lead through four rounds.

Gibson then ended it with her second penalty-kick goal in as many matches as she sent the Montclair State bench into euphoria and sent the Red Hawks to the NCAA Tournament.

Policastro recorded her 10th shutout of the season stopping five shots while Nunez made eight.