Newark, NJ – Senior forward MARTINA LANDEKA scored with 17:37 to play in the second half as No. 23 Montclair State slipped past Rutgers-Newark 1-0 at Alumni Field on a rainy Wednesday evening.

Landeka's goal, her seventh of the season, helped MSU keep its hopes of a first-round bye in the NJAC Tournament alive with the win. The victory was the fifth in a row for the Red Hawks (14-2-2) as MSU finished its league slate at 6-1-2.

Montclair moved three points ahead of idle Rowan University for second place. The Profs will host The College of New Jersey on Thursday and need a victory to keep pace with Montclair. If the two teams are tied, Rowan would win the tiebreaker and claim the No. 2 seed in the NJAC Tournament.

Each team was feeling each other out over the first 20 or so minutes of the first half, with the Scarlet Raiders getting a couple corners and solid services into the box from sophomore Nicole Gomez, and Montclair taking a pair of shots after its first corner of the game.

Rutgers-Newark senior goalkeeper Veronika Tueros  dove  to make a denial with less than 17 minutes to play in the first half, making another denial two minutes later with far less a degree of difficulty.
 
The Scarlet Raider defense hung tough as Montclair was able to keep it deep in the R-N zone, getting to halftime with the score tied (0-0) and countering on two chances as well. The Red Hawks ended the opening 45 minutes with an 8-1 margin in shots.
 
MSU created several attempts on free kicks with Tueros making the only save she had to 5:52 into the second, and despite much of the action taking place in the Raider zone, the match remained scoreless.
 
That would change in the 73rd minute when a Red Hawk corner resulted in the game's only goal. ASHLEY KOESTER lofted the service, ERIN SULLIVAN tapped to Landeka who was on the doorstep to score her seventh goal of the season. Both players earned assists on the play.
 
Rutgers-Newark was able to get off one shot late – an attempt from freshman Juliana Ceballos that went wide.

Montclair St. ended with a 16-3 edge in shots, putting nine on goal, also holding a slim 4-3 margin in corners.

Freshman goalkeeper ERINNE FINLAYSON picked up the shutout, her eighth in 11 starts this season. Tueros finished with eight saves in her first start of the season for Rutgers-Newark.