St. Davids, PA – Senior midfielder Jennifer Tafro (Little Falls, NJ, Passaic Valley) had a goal and assist while freshman Danielle Butrico (South Plainfield, NJ, South Plainfield) scored twice in her Montclair State debut as the second-ranked Red Hawks rolled to a 5-0 victory over Eastern University in the season opener for both teams on Friday.
Sophomore goalkeeper Rebecca Brattole (Clark, NJ, Arthur L. Johnson) stopped seven shots for a shutout in her first career start as MSU won its third straight season opener while winning its initial game of the year for the 10th time in the last 12 years.
Montclair, which is now 9-4 all-time against the Eagles (0-1), has now won 23 of its last 25 games dating back to the start of last season. MSU is coming off the most successful season in program history as it finished 22-2 and reached the NCAA Division III national championship game.
Montclair started off strong collecting four early penalty corners finally capitalizing on the fourth as Tafro finished off a give-and-go with senior Stephanie Lewis (Garwood, NJ, Arthur L. Johnson) for the first score of the game 7:52 into the contest. That 1-0 advantage would hold up as Eastern goalkeeper Kylie Jones made four first-half saves, including a stop of Tafro on a penalty stroke with 2:04 remaining before halftime.
Montclair extended its lead early in the second half as senior Sierra Rauchbach (East Brunswick, NJ, East Brunswick) scored off a penalty corner by the Red Hawks. Tafro picked up the assist marking the sixth time in her career that the 2012 All-American collected a goal and assist in the same game. Last season Tafro became the seventh player in program history to record double digits for goals and assists in the same season.
Sophomore Meghan Weiss (Allendale, NJ, Northern Highlands) made it a 3-0 game with 18:48 left in the second have taking a pass from freshman Gianna Moglino (Holmdel, NJ, Holmdel) and sliding it just under a diving Jones for her first career goal.
Meanwhile Brattole kept Eastern off the board with three straight stops, including two on shots by Sarah Webb and Lauren Gay on a penalty corner in the 55th minute.
Montclair's final two goals came from the combination of Katie Lipsit (Lumberton, NJ, Rancocas Valley) and newcomer Butrico. Off another penalty corner, Lipsit fired a shot that was tipped in by Butrico for her first collegiate goal with 12:01 remaining. Butrico added her second two minutes later for what turned out to be the final margin.
Jones registered seven saves for Eastern, which was outshot 17-12 in the game. Montclair State held a 14-9 advantage in corners.
The Red Hawks go right back into action on Saturday, August 31 making their Sprague Field debut against Rensselaer at 2:00 pm. MSU has won 16 consecutive home games dating back to the 2011 season.
