Montclair, NJ – Fueled by an eight-goal opening quarter, the Montclair State University Men's Lacrosse team downed Manhattanville on Wednesday afternoon at Sprague Field. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Red Hawks (6-0) broke through within the game's opening minute on a strike from LOGAN LAMARCAm and doubled their advantage shortly after on a marker from JONATHAN SLUSSER off a feed from KAI DONAHUE. Less than a minute later, the Valiants cut the gap in half, but Lamarca generated a turnover a few minutes later leading to a goal from CARTER FINNEN to push the game to 3-1. The two sides traded goals, and with the clock approaching five minutes in the period, JACK HICKAM rattled in a tally, with Montclair continuing to push with a goal from RYAN VIERBUCHEN on the next possession. After another faceoff win from Montclair, Vierbuchen notched another off a feed from Donahue. The home side tallied their fourth-straight goal in the final two minutes of the stanza, as Vierbuchen slotted a pass to JACK NORBERTO to make the score 8-2 after 15 minutes.
• Manhattanville struck on the opening trip up the field in the second quarter, but the Red Hawks countered right after a timeout as Vierbuchen found the back of the net off a pass from Morosoff. The pair struck again at the 12:17 mark, this time with Morosoff scoring, to push the margin to seven. Montclair continued their offensive blitz with another goal from Norberto on the next possession, as the Red Hawks capitalized on another turnover from the visitors with a strike from Slusser to make the score 12-3. The Valiants tallied the only remaining goal of the half to make the gap eight at the break.
• In a low-scoring third quarter, neither side could find the back of the net until five minutes in, with Manhattanville notching a marker to trim the gap to seven. Three minutes later, BRIAN KELLY sent a feed to Vierbuchen for another marker to provide the answer, as NICHOLI HALSE recorded three key saves over the remainder of the period to maintain the lead for the Red Hawks. Following another scoreless six and a half minutes to open the fourth, Morosoff converted a man-up opportunity for the home side's final score of the day. Manhattanville recorded the final four goals of the afternoon, but could not climb any closer as the Red Hawks sealed the home victory.

INSIDE THE RESULTS

• Vierbuchen matched his season-high of four goals to pace the Red Hawks offensively, his fifth contest with at least a hat trick. His pair of assists marked his second multi-assist performance of the campaign.
• Slusser and Morosoff have notched a pair of goals in back-to-back games, with Finnen notching his second career multi-goal performance. Norberto tallied his first two-goal performance of the season.
• Halse collected 11 saves en route to his sixth victory in net for the campaign. The junior has tallied double-digit saves in each of his last four appearances.
• Montclair held a 45-29 advantage in shots, including a 31-20 edge in shots on goal. 
• The Red Hawks have won six consecutive games to open a season for the first time since 2014.

FROM THE FIELD

"Happy for our guys. From the first whistle our guys seemed ready to play. We did a nice job in the transition game where we were able to get a comfortable lead. We took the foot off the gas pedal a little and got complacent but overall I am glad to see a bunch of scorers on the stat sheet and happy to get the win." - Head Coach Matt Poskay

UP NEXT

The Red Hawks will travel to face Widener on Saturday, March 14, with the opening faceoff from Chester, PA scheduled for 1:00 PM.