Montclair, NJ – Most Valuable Player BRETT MANGAN scored four times and added three assists as top-seeded Montclair State kept its vice-like grip on the Skyline Conference Championship with a 13-6 victory over No. 2 seed Stockton University on Saturday.

DON FINN, ZACH SCHRECK and BRADY WULSTER each had two goals as Montclair (12-6) won its eighth consecutive conference championship and earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship. The Red Hawks, winners of eight in a row, will learn their NCAA fate on Sunday, May 8 when the entire bracket is announced online at NCAA.com.

Tommy Gallo scored twice for Stockton, which fell to 14-4 on the season with two of the losses coming against MSU, including a 15-9 win at Sprague Field on April 2.
It was the second straight championship game meeting between the Red Hawks and Ospreys but unlike 2015 when MSU scored six of the first seven goals, this meeting was close from the start.

CONNOR CUNNINGHAM gave the Red Hawks a 1-0 lead 2:50 into the contest but that was matched by Mark Scherzer's tally with 5:42 to play. Schreck scored the next two goals, the latter with 3:47 left for a 3-1 Red Hawks advantage. Lance Pecina scored a minute later as Montclair led by a goal after one period.

Gallo tallied twice in the first five minutes of the second to give Stockton its first lead at 4-3 with 10:16 remaining. Wulster knotted the game back up with 7:47 to play but an unassisted goal by Zack Aho two minutes later put Stockton back in front 5-4.

Finn forged a third tie with 1:51 to play before halftime and the game appeared as though it would go into the break that way. A loose ball during a clear attempt by Stockton turned into possession for MSU when the Ospreys were called for a push with two seconds left. Cunningham rifled a shot from 35 yards away that was redirected into the net by Mangan just ahead of the halftime horn giving the Red Hawks the lead 6-5.

The goal sparked Montclair which came out and put the first two goals on the board in the second half. Mangan had both 49 seconds apart giving Montclair State an 8-5 lead with 12:17 to go. Colin Shea got one back with eight minutes left but that turned out to be the last goal the Ospreys would get.

Goalkeeper LUCAS JONES made six of his 13 saves in the third period and the Montclair State defense killed off a pair of penalties, including a two-minute flag. The Red Hawks used that defensive momentum and turned it into a four-goal run to end the period.

COREY CARLSON started the run with 7:38 and Montclair scored three times in the final 53 seconds. DYLAN HENINGBURG got the first goal with STEVE DANYLUK finding Wulster for the second with 28 ticks. Mangan, who became the sixth player in MSU history to record 200 career points, capped off the period with a falling-down shot with 10 seconds for a 12-6 MSU lead after three.

Finn scored the lone goal of the fourth with 4:53 left.

BLASE MANTINEO won 13-of-22 faceoff attempts with six ground balls for Montclair State. Finn led the Red Hawks with nine ground balls while Skyline Defensive Player of the Year RYAN YOUNG had three caused turnovers and three ground balls.