Montclair, NJ – The Montclair State University field hockey (3-6, 0-1 NJAC) hosted its NJAC opener on Saturday morning, where despite a 4-1 loss to Stockton (7-3, 1-0 NJAC), junior goalkeeper
SYDNEY WHITE delivered a career-high performance with 21 saves in the matchup.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Red Hawks came out facing some heavy pressure right from the jump. SYDNEY WHITE locked down the cage early, turning away back-to-back shots and holding firm through a flurry of penalty corners. Montclair tried to get some offensive momentum going late in the frame when KASEY WATSON inserted a pair of corners, setting up BELLA HEISER for a look that sailed just wide to keep it scoreless after one.
- Stockton got on the board first at 23:17, but the Red Hawks had an immediate answer. Right after, DARBY VON BERG fed a nice ball to NATALIE SURMA, leading her into open space so she could take it herself all the way from the 25-yard line and bury it to tie things up at 1-1. White stayed super busy the rest of the half, coming up with multiple clutch saves through a heavy stretch of penalty corners to send us into halftime deadlocked.
- Stockton grabbed the lead back early in the period at 32:13. The Montclair defense had to dig in hard as the quarter went on, and White came up huge in the cage, stopping everything during a brutal stretch of penalty corners. White capped it off right before the break at 44:08 by blocking a penalty stroke, keeping the Red Hawks right in it heading into the fourth.
- Montclair pushed hard for an equalizer in a physical final frame, earning a late penalty corner in search of the tying goal. Unfortunately, the Ospreys capitalized late with scores at 57:22 and right before the buzzer despite a brilliant defensive save by KARINA CRACCHIOLO, wrapping up a tough 4-1 final.
INSIDE THE RESULTS
- Whites' 21 saves now stand as the fourth-best single-game performance in program history, surpassing the mark of 19 set by Rebecca Brattole on October 25, 2014 against Rowan. It also surpassed her collegiate best by six (16 at Rowan on November, 1, 2025).
- Surma fired in her second goal of the season, upping her career total to 13.
- Von Berg nabbed her first collegiate point since August of last season.
- KARINA CRACCHIOLO secured her second defensive save of the season. She has the only two defensive saves for the team this season.
FROM THE FIELD
- "Although the outcome vs. Stockton did not go our way, I thought today's game provided many positive examples of the resilience within our team. We need to do a better job outletting and possessing the ball in the midfield to create sustained attacking opportunities. I also want to recognize the career performance from SYDNEY WHITE. Syd's focus and resilience was a huge motivator today. We will refocus after today and get back to work on Monday at practice." Head Coach Eileen O'Reilly
UP NEXT
- Montclair heads on the road to William Paterson University this Wednesday, October 7th at 7:00 p.m.
