Galloway, NJ. – The Montclair State University women's lacrosse team (5-6, 1-2 NJAC) trailed by five points at halftime and rallied back to push the game to overtime, but ultimately fell short at NJAC rival Stockton (10-4, 2-1 NJAC), 12-11 on Friday evening.

How It Happened

• The Ospreys seized the advantage early with back-to-back goals inside the first three minutes of the game. A Stockton green card gave KYRA MORENA a man-up shot that landed on goal, but was saved. On the reverse, Montclair saw itself down a person thanks to a yellow card, but two stops in a row by JOEY GROTKOPF kept it a two-goal game. Not only did they kill the penalty, but LEXI ROBINSON also fired in a man-down goal off an assist for Morena to cut the lead. KAELEY SEK tied up on the next possession with 8:40 remaining in the opening quarter. Both defenses held strong the rest of the period. The best scoring came from the Ospreys at the 1:47 timestamp, where another shot was denied by Grotkopf to keep the game 2-2 heading into the second frame.
• Both teams traded a possession, and Stockton regained the lead at the 11:26 mark in the second with a goal. That flipped the momentum in their favor as they scored four more goals over the next eight minutes to take a 7-2 edge. Montclair battled back when a forced turnover by RYAN SALINSKY led to Robinson dishing the ball to Sek for a goal at 2:04. The Red Hawks regained possession and generated a flurry of shots that could not find the mark until Morena hit the back of the net with six seconds left to cut the Osprey lead to 7-4 entering the halftime intermission.
• Grotkopf made another key save on a free-position attempt during Stockton's opening possession of the second half and turned it over to her offense, where ASHLEY CASTILLO found Sek for a goal. Following another shot and save, Montclair had a successful clear, and Castillo once again assisted a goal, this time to CARA MCCARTNEY, which brought the game to a one-score lead of 7-6. The Ospreys finally broke through the Red Hawk defense at the 4:23 mark on a free-position attempt to push the game back to a two-goal lead. Robinson, who already had a man-down goal, scored one in a man-up situation, succeeding another Stockton green card, and the game went 8-7 Ospreys into the final quarter.
• Stockton looked as if they were going to run away with the game in the front half of the fourth quarter. At the 10:27 timestamp, they found the back of the net and scored twice more to take an 11-7 lead with 7:39 remaining. Montclair did not fold, however. AMRA LUKOVIC played a huge role, scoring two goals at 4:16 and 3:21. The Red Hawks put a few more on the cage that didn't hit the mark, but Lukovic eventually scored her third goal of the game with just 47 seconds remaining to cut the lead to one. The Ospreys won the draw but turned the ball over to McCartney, who picked up the ball, drove it down the field, and fired in a goal to tie the game with just 15 seconds remaining. Lukovic won the succeeding draw, but a turnover put the game into overtime.
• Both teams possessed the ball and turned the ball over in the early stage of overtime. A yellow card put Montclair in a tough position and gave Stockton a golden opportunity. Grotkopf made a big-time save, but the Ospreys picked up the groundball and called a timeout. Off the timeout, Stockon found the look they needed and buried the shot to come away with the win.

Inside the Numbers

• Despite the loss, Grotkopf was stellar with 11 saves, most of which came in big moments of the game. It was her first double-digit save effort since February 21 against Ithaca.
• Robinson led in points with four on two goals and two assists.
• Lukovic and Sek each had hat tricks.
• SAMANTHA HANDZO led the team in both groundballs (5) and caused turnovers (3).

From the Field

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Up Next

• Montclair looks to bounce back when they host nationally-ranked Rowan on Wednesday, April 22. The first face-off is set for 7:00 p.m.