Montclair, NJ – Senior midfielder
Jennifer Tafro (Little Falls, NJ, Passaic Valley) scored twice while sophomore
Maura Johnston (Montville, NJ, Montville) had a goal and assists as second-ranked Montclair State raced past Muhlenberg College, 6-1 at Sprague Field on Wednesday evening.
Senior
Allison Jillions (Hainesport, NJ, Holy Cross), freshman
Gianna Moglino (Holmdel, NJ, Holmdel) and junior
Katie Lipsit (Lumberton, NJ, Rancocas Valley) each had goal as the Red Hawks upped their record to 3-0 with their 17th straight home victory.
Last season, Montclair fell to Muhlenberg 2-1 before embarking on its 20-game winning streak which led to the Division III national championship game. This time the Red Hawks didn't let the game get that close.
Montclair would get the first good opportunity however Tafro's the initial shot of the game got by the Muhlenberg goaltender only to be stopped by defender Ashley DeAngelis. But MSU would keep up the pressure and got a pair of penalty corners, the second of which led to Tafro's game-opening tally at 4:59 of the contest.
Five minutes later the lead would be extended as the Red Hawks generated an odd-man rush which saw Johnston thread a perfect pass across the goal mouth to Jillions who tapped it home for the second goal.
The game settled down somewhat for the next 13 minutes, but Montclair earned a penalty corner at the 22-minute mark that was executed beautifully with crisp passing on the left side capped off by Tafro's second of the night pushing the Red Hawk advantage to 3-0.
With three minutes before the break, Montclair was again applying pressure in front. Sophomore
Meghan Weiss (Allendale, NJ, Northern Highlands) took a shot in front that was saved, but the rebound came right to Moglino who put it away for her first collegiate goal.
Muhlenberg would break the shutout 10:38 into the second half as Christine Germaske scored on a long breakaway, the first goal allowed by the Red Hawks in 185-plus minutes.
Both MSU second-half goals were nearly identical. Lipsit collected her second of the season banging in loose ball in front at 52:09. Johnston scored on a similar goal with 5:23 to go for the final margin.
Sophomore
Rebecca Brattole (Clark, NJ, Arthur L. Johnson) made one save for Montclair State, which got another outstanding performance from its defensive unit as the Red Hawks outshot the Mules (0-2), 23-3. MSU also out-cornered Muhlenberg 12-2.
Montclair returns to action on Saturday, September 7 hosting Alvernia University at 1:00 pm.
