Montclair, NJ – Junior Brittany Bollendorf (Sewell, NJ / Washington Township) scored the decisive goal with 41 seconds remaining lifting third-seeded Rowan to a 12-11 victory over No. 2 seed Montclair State in the semifinals of the NJAC Women's Lacrosse Tournament at Sprague Field on Wednesday evening.

Bollendorf finished with five goals for the Profs (10-6), who kept their season alive with their sixth straight victory. Rowan will face top-seeded The College of New Jersey on Saturday, May 2 in Ewing for the conference crown and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Championship.

Senior midfielder JENNA BUSSIERE scored four times and added an assist for MSU (10-6), which had its two-game winning streak halted. The Red Hawks were also tripped up in the NJAC semifinals for the second straight season by the Profs, who won last year's semifinal contest 15-4 in Montclair.

The two teams split their head-to-head meetings this season, each game decided by a goal however Rowan would get the more important victory as it held off the Red Hawks in the second half after grabbing a 7-5 lead at halftime.

Bussiere scored twice 1:14 apart to open the second half tying the game at 7-7 with27:09 left. Vicky Sucharski (Cinnaminson, NJ / Cinnaminson) put the Profs back in front two minutes later however Avianna Paraggio scored 21 seconds later knotting the contest a 8-8 with 25:24 to go in the contest.

Bollendorf and Rachel Emerson (Moorestown, NJ / Morrestown) connected on back-to-back goals by the Profs for a 10-8 lead with 21:14 left. Montclair's TIERNEY CONLON closed the gap to a goal eight minutes later however Emerson scored again for an 11-9 Rowan advantage with 7:27 to play.

Bussiere found FRANCESCA VERRONE with 5:40 left making it a one-goal game again and she scored 64 seconds later forging the fourth tie of the game at 11-1 with 4:36 left.

The Red Hawks would get the ensuing draw and a chance to take the lead. Montclair ran off nearly two minutes but turned the ball over. After a successful clear, the Profs used the clock to their advantage before Bollendorf raced in from the left side and let go a shot the hit inside the far post for the go-ahead goal.

Montclair State would get one last chance as Verrone collected the draw. Bussiere got the ball at the top and drove in on the right side before letting go a shot that clanked off the right post with 18 seconds. Rowan got possession and ran out the clock for the victory.

Bussiere and Verrone gave Montclair State a 2-0 lead 10 minutes into the game however Rowan recorded the next six goals, including two by Bollendorf as it built a four-goal lead with 7:51 to go before halftime. The Red Hawks countered with the next three goals, two by KASEY MAGUIRE which got MSU to 6-5 with 4:25 left. Bollendorf, as she did late in the second half, notched the final goal of the first period with 10 seconds as Rowan led 7-5 at the break.

Jamie Blondina (Toms River, NJ / Toms River South) had two goals and an assist for Rowan which got seven saves from goalkeeper Erin Horner (Mullica Hill, NJ / Kingsway Regional). Bollendorf added five draws and three caused turnovers with Kelly O'Brien (Kendall Park, NJ / South Brunswick) recording four caused turnovers along with a game-high eight ground balls.

Paraggio, Maguire and Verrone all had two goals for the Red Hawks, who got a goal and two assists from Conlon, raising her NCAA Division III record for assists to 247. Conlon also had three draws with Bussiere grabbing six. ALEXANDRA TEPPER stopped eight shots for MSU.