Ewing, NJ…Montclair State University took advantage of free kick midway through the first overtime as the Red Hawks handed The College of New Jersey women's soccer team its first loss of the season on Saturday by the score of 1-0.
 
The teams fought through 90 minutes of regulation with neither team breaking through for a goal and sending them into extra time.
 
Red Hawks then broke through for game's only goal with 4:15 left in the first overtime with freshman Claire Midili (Sewell, NJ/Washington Twp.) lofting a direct kick to the far side of the penalty area. A charging Shawna Grabowski (Woodbright, NJ/Woodbridge) then headed the ball just inside the far post as Montclair State came away with the win.
 
The loss was the first of the season for the 16^th-ranked Lions as they dropped to 7-1 overall and 1-1 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference. The Red Hawks remained unbeaten at 2-0 in the conference and 8-0-1 overall.
 
The game nearly never made that far into overtime as TCNJ's Amy Van Dyk (Wyckoff, NJ/Ramapo) had a shot hit the cross bar of the Montclair goal minutes earlier.
 
In goal for the Red Hawks, sophomore Gina Policastro (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) recorded a game-high seven saves.
 
Sophomore goalie Kendra Griffith (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill West) saw her impressive scoreless streak to start the season come to an end at 659:01 as this was the first goal allowed by the Lions this season. Griffith finished with a pair of saves.
 
TCNJ continues conference play on Wednesday, September 26 hosting Rutgers-Camden, while Montclair State returns home to play Rutgers-Newark on that same day.
 
Game Note: Prior to the game, the playing of National Anthem was performed by TCNJ's saxophone quartet of Brian Chesney, Jack Franchi, Michael T. Ippolito Jr., and Ronald Pruitt. This group will also be performing the national anthem on Sunday, September 23 at CitiField prior to the New York Mets game against the Miami Marlins.