Montclair, NJ… Montclair State University scored the only goal of the game midway through the second half as the Red Hawks fought off The College of New Jersey field hockey team 1-0 on Saturday to claim the New Jersey Athletic Conference title.
 
Montclair State entered the game as the top-ranked team in Division III, but were challenged by the Lions and had to withstand a late surge to hold on for that win. The Red Hawks improve to 20-1 and secure the NJAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament, while ninth-ranked TCNJ fell to 16-4.  
 
The Lions will now wait for the announcement of the field for the NCAA Tournament, which will be released at www.ncaa.com on Sunday night.
 
The game's only goal came with 16:28 left in regulation when Maura Johnston scored her 10^th of the season on a play that started on a penalty corner.
 
TCNJ pressed for the equalizer late in the game when they were awarded a penalty corner with 2:35 left. Freshman Jaclyn Douglas (Malvern, PA/Great Valley) put the ball in play and the end result was a shot on goal by junior Lindsey Hatch (Sewell, NJ/Washington Twp.) that Montclair State goalie Rebecca Brattole was able to make the save. Brattole was forced to make another save just over a minute later when sophomore Jordan Calderone (Collingswood, NJ/Collingswood) had a shot on goal.

Junior Amanda Krause (Richboro, NJ/Council Rock North) had a pair of saves for the Lions.
 
Overall in the game, TCNJ held a 12-3 edge in shots and were awarded eight of the 10 penalty corners in the contest.
 
Brattole had seven saves for the Red Hawks.