Montclair, NJ – The Montclair State field hockey team received goals from five different players with seven collecting at point as the 10
th-ranked Red Hawks knocked off Eastern University, 5-2 at Sprague Field in their season opener on Thursday.
ALEXIS AMBROSINO,
HANNAH BOLLINGER,
MEGAN ROELOFFS,
AMBER HASLETT and
ARIELLE GALGANO all found the back of the cage helping the Red Hawks (1-0) to their sixth consecutive Opening Day win. MSU also improved to 12-4 all-time against the Eagles (0-1).
Gina Miller and Maya Wales each scored for Eastern.
Ambrosino got Montclair on the board at the 9:01 mark. Freshman
KELLY WATSON drove in from the top and flipped a pass to Ambrosino on the left post. Eastern keeper Nicole Berger made a sliding attempt to clear the ball however Ambrosino was able to corral it before flipping a shot over Berger for the game's first goal.
Galgano extended the lead to 2-0 with 12:09 to play ripping a shot from the top of the circle off a restart. Eastern got a goal back less than five minutes later as Wales scored cutting the lead to 2-1. Bollinger restored the lead to two goals with her first career tally, a shot from the left side with 4:56 remaining as MSU led 3-1 at the break.
Haslett banged home a rebound in front 3:17 into the second to push the lead to 4-1. Miller answered for the Eagles but Roeloffs slammed the door shut with 12:11 left blasting a shot from the top of the circle for her first tally of the year.
KAITLIN MAGUIRE made five saves to earn the victory. Berger stopped 11 shots with Hayley Williams recording four defensive saves.
Next up for Montclair State is Cabrini College on Saturday, September 3 at the Drew Fall Festival in Madison, NJ. MSU meets the Cavaliers at 2:00 pm and then squares off against Lebanon Valley on Sunday, September at 1:00 pm.
