Montclair, NJ – Freshman
MELANIE CUNHA scored twice during a three-goal first half as Montclair State knocked off Mount Saint Mary College, 3-1 at MSU Soccer Park on Thursday evening.
Sophomore
EMILY BEENDERS picked up two assists as the Red Hawks (7-4-4) defeated the Knights for a second straight season.
Haley Murphy scored the lone goal for the Knights (13-3-1), who had their 10-game winning streak snapped and fell for the first time since a setback against New York University on September 16.
Cunha put the Red Hawks on the board 1:45 into the contest. Mount St. Mary goalkeeper Mary Riley came out to defend a cross near the middle of the box. Riley was able to deflect the ball however it came back to Beenders, who slipped a pass to the left side for Cunha with the latter ripping a shot into the open net for the 1-0 lead.
Cunha extended the lead in the 14
th minute with her fifth goal of the season. Cunha drove along the left end line and moved within six yards before blasting a shot into the upper near corner making the score 2-0.
Sophomore
CHRISTINE MAYORGA scored six minutes later giving the Red Hawks a three-goal advantage. Beenders dribbled in along the right wing before flipping a pass back into the middle of the penalty area for Mayorga, who buried the feed into the left side at the 19:35 mark.
Montclair outshot the Knights 10-4 in the first half however Mount St. Mary got its attack going in the second half breaking through at 60:13 on Murphy's fifth goal of the year. Destiny Ribadeneyra served a corner kick into the box. Nicolette Wurglics headed a ball down low that MSU keeper
MOLLY BARROW stopped. The carom came right back to Murphy, who banged the rebound back in cutting the deficit to 2-1.
Barrow would make a stop in the 65
th minute to keep the contest at the two-goal margin and Riley added several more saves. Mount St. Mary came within inches of trimming the lead to a goal however Theresa Stinson's shot in the 80
th minute clanged off the post.
Barrow thwarted two more attempts in the final 10 minutes and finished with eight saves in her return to the lineup. Riley had 12 saves for the Knights.
Montclair State returns to action on Saturday, October 21 in Newark, NJ taking on Rutgers-Newark. Kickoff of the NJAC match is scheduled for 7:30 pm.