Grantham, PA - The Montclair State men's soccer team saw their season come to an end as Christopher Newport scored three time in the second half for a 5-1 win in the first round of the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship at Messiah College on Saturday evening. 

Senior MIKE OLLA had the lone goal for MSU, which ended its season at 16-6-1. The Red Hawks were making their 11th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament and its 16th overall. Montclair earned its way in via the automatic bid after capturing the NJAC Championship with a 3-0 win at Rowan on November 4.

The action would get off to a quick start, as three goals were on the board in the first nine minutes of action. The Captains struck first, when sophomore Stephen Durbin connected with classmate Zachary Ballard in the box for a goal not even a minute and a half into the game. It was Ballard's seventh goal of the season, as he connected into the left side of the net after a cross in from Durbin. 

The Red Hawks would respond just as quickly, when Olla scored 78 seconds later off an assist by KEVIN SIMEK.  It was Olla's tenth goal of the year and the two offensive juggernauts appeared ready for a slugfest. 

The third goal in the opening spurt would come via the penalty kick spot, when Grace stepped up to deliver what would eventually hold up as the game-winning goal. With the goal, Grace is now 4-for-4 in penalty kick attempts this season, tied for the second most in a single season in Christopher Newport history.

After scoring three combined goals in the first 8:53, the Captains and Red Hawks would settle in defensively for the remainder of the first half, and CNU carried a 2-1 lead into the break. While the shot count was near even, with the Captains holding an 8-6 advantage, it was CNU that held possession for most of the opening stanza. 

In the second half, the flood gates opened for the Captains, as the CNU offense scored three goals in a 21-minute stretch in the middle of the period. Junior midfielder Andrew Goglin started things off in the 58th minute with a nice move at the top of the box. After getting a pass from Daniel Zeitoun, Gogolin faked with his right foot and then cut back for a left-footed dart into the bottom left corner of the goal. Just under four minutes later, Gogolin would set up Grace for his second goal of the game, giving the Captains a commanding three-goal lead, 4-1. 

In the 79th minute, the CNU offense would tack on one more score with a goal from senior defender Sammy Blosser. After stealing the ball from Montclair State, Blosser dribbled up field by himself before unleashing a missile from just outside the box into the left side of the goal. It was Blosser's fourth goal of the season, and iced the blowout victory with a fifth tally for the Captains. 

Olla led the Montclair State attack, which was playing without the nation's second leading goal scorer, LUCAS TERCI, who was sitting out after a red card. Olla took 12 of the Red Hawks' 18 attempts on the night, putting three on frame. The CNU defense allowed only four shots on-goal, and sophomore goalkeeper Zach Pedini turned away three. It was only the fifth time this season the Red Hawks were held to one goal or fewer.