Montclair, NJ – Rutgers-Newark's Cristina Estremera scored on a free kick from 25 yards out with 23:41 remaining in the second half as sixth-seeded Rutgers-Newark upset No. 3 and third-seeded Montclair State 1-0 in the first round of the NJAC Women's Soccer Championship on Saturday.

Estremera's 10^th goal of the season put the Scarlet Raiders (13-7-1) into the semifinals of the tournament against The College of New Jersey on Tuesday, November 3 in Ewing, NJ at 7:30 pm. It was the first conference tournament win for Rutgers-Newark which also picked up its first win against Montclair State in 16 all-time meetings.

The loss denied the Red Hawks (14-3-2) a chance to defend their NJAC crown. Montclair, which had its four-match winning streak snapped, suffered its first conference tournament loss since 2011 (1-0 vs. TCNJ in the semifinals) and fell in the first round for the first time since a 2-0 setback against William Paterson in 2009.

Montclair State entered the weekend ranked No. 3 in the South Atlantic Region and now must wait until Monday, November 9 to see if it will earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. MSU has been in the NCAAs each of the last three years including back-to-back berths in the Sweet 16 in 2013 and 2014.

The Red Hawks knocked off Rutgers-Newark 1-0 just four days ago however it could not find a way to get past the Scarlet Raiders again despite owning a 15-4 advantage in shots.

MSU took all seven shots in the first half however Raider keeper Veronika Tueros made three saves in the first 45 minutes. She stopped a shot by HEATHER SOOTKOOS 15 minutes into the contest and came up with save against KIMBERLY MIGNONE in the 29^th minute before making one versus MALLORI HIGBEE with five minutes to go before halftime.

In the second half, Tueros denied JENNIE HORNSTRA 1:07 into the period before Rutgers-Newark finally got two shots on the board, both of which were blocked by defenders. Tueros made one more save against MARTINA LANDEKA, who had the game-winner on Wednesday in the 64^th minute before Rutgers-Newark got the game's lone goal.

After Montclair was called for a foul, Estremera booted a free kick from the right side the found its way inside the upper left-hand side of the goal giving Rutgers-Newark the 1-0 lead. It was the first goal allowed by the Red Hawks in five matches and snapped a streak of 373:17 of scoreless soccer.

The Red Hawks managed three more attempts over the final 23-plus minutes however none were on frame.