Mahwah, NJ – Sophomore midfielder
Lucas Terci (Union, NJ, Union) scored a huge goal for No. 7/23 Montclair State on Wednesday. It wasn't until four hours later when the Red Hawks learned how big the goal was.
Terci, the NJAC Offensive Player of the Week, snapped a 1-1 tie at the 57:58 mark of the second half lifting MSU to a 2-1 victory over Ramapo on Wednesday afternoon.
Later in the evening, the Red Hawks got the result they needed when Rutgers-Newark knocked off Richard Stockton 3-1 in Galloway Township allowing MSU to slide into second place in the NJAC standings which earned Montclair a first-round bye in the upcoming conference tournament.
The NJAC Tournament begins on Saturday, November 2 with first-round action however Montclair State (15-2-2, 6-1-2 NJAC) will wait until Wednesday, November 6 when it hosts as semifinal contest at MSU Soccer Park at 7:00 pm. Montclair State will face the winner of the first-round match between Rutgers-Newark and William Paterson, which will be played in Newark on Saturday.
Needing a victory over the Roadrunners (7-9-2, 2-7 NJAC) to at least have a chance for the first-round bye, MSU found itself down 1-0 just under 13 minutes into the contest as Andrew Kirshteyn collected his second goal of the season.
Montclair goalkeeper
Michael Gonzalez (Kenilworth, NJ, Union Catholic) made a save two minutes later to keep the game at a goal before the Red Hawks, who won their fifth straight, tied the match on
Brian Cullen's (Clementon, NJ, Highland Regional) team-leading 10th goal of the season at the 18:42 mark.
That's the way the game would stay until 32:02 remaining when Terci knocked in a feed from
Maxx Wurzburger (Glen Rock, NJ, Glen Rock) for his eight of the season putting Montclair, now 8-0-1 in its last nine, in front 2-1.
Gonzalez would make that goal stand up as he made two saves over the next five minutes stopping Kirshteyn at 60:39 and snaring a header by Rob Shalikar at 64:12.
Gonzalez finished with six save for the Red Hawks, who outshot the Roadrunners 24-17 in the contest.
