Box Score
Montclair, NJ (9/27/08) – Freshman forward Rodrigo Santiago (Wharton, NJ/Morris Hills) scored once and assisted on the go-ahead goal later on as Montclair State, ranked fifth in Division III, remained undefeatedwith a 3-1 victory over The College of New Jersey in New Jersey Athletic Conference action at Sprague Field on Saturday evening.
Tyler Masterson (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris Central) and John Esposito (Hillside, NJ/Hillside) each scored a goal as the Red Hawks are off toa 10-0-0 start for the second time in three years. MSU is also 3-0-0 in the NJAC. The Red Hawks are riding a 12-game regular-season unbeaten streak.
Jnior Kevin Luber (Delran, NJ/Delran) scored his team-leading sixth goal and fourth in the last two games for TCNJ, which fell to 6-4-1 overall, 2-1 in the conference.
Scoreless for almost the first 30 minute of the game, Montclair State took a 1-0 lead at the 29:20 mark on a miscue by the Lions. Playing the ball back toward the goal, goalkeeper Eric Goldwaser (Wyckoff, NJ/ Indian Hills) got caught up with a defender and the ball trickled out to Santiago, who rolled in ashot from 25 yards out for his fourth goal of the season.
The Red Hawks would hold on to that lead until six minutesinto the second half as Luber connected off an assist from Chris Nelan (Barrington, NJ/Haddon Heights). Nelan drove the ball down inside the six on the left side before crossing a pass over to Luber, who knocked in the shot to tiethe game at 51:35.
Montclair quickly responded with the go-ahead score 2:22 later. Off a corner kick, Santiago crossed a passfrom right to left where Esposito buried a header inside the left post as MSUled 2-1. It was Esposito's fifth goal of the year.
The Red Hawks would add an insurance marker 3:19 after that as Masterson collected his seventh goal of the year off an assist from Michael Cullen (Clementon, NJ/ Highland). Masterson, who leads MSU with 22 points this season, has registered a point in all 10 contests.
Goalkeeper Nick Mele (Delran, NJ/Delran) made two saves for Montclair State, which outshot the Lions, 21-5.Goldwaser had four saves for TCNJ. MSU also held a 7-6 advantage in corner kicks,7-6.
Montclair State returns to action on Wednesday, October 1 as the Red Hawks head down to Union, NJ to face Kean University in a 7:30 p.m. matchup at Alumni Stadium. TCNJ is also in action that same evening with a 7:00 p.m. start down in Camden, NJ against Rutgers-Camden.
