Men's Lax Falls in Skyline Championship to MSU, 7-6

MONTCLAIR, N.J. (5/2/09) - Montclair State University scored twice in the fourth quarter to rally past Kean University, 7-6, to capture the 2009 Skyline Conference Men's Lacrosse Championship on Saturday afternoon at Sprague Field.

Sophomore midfielder Mike Corsetto (Kinnelon, N.J.) scored the game-tying goal and assisted on the game-winner by sophomore midfielder Robert Glander (Vernon, N.J.) early in the fourth quarter and MSU sophomore Tyler Meth (Basking Ridge, N.J.) had two goals and an assist to earn tournament Most Valuable Player honors, as MSU earns the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III men's lacrosse tournament. 

Junior Anthony Bertucci (Edison, N.J.) scored three goals for the Cougars (12-7), while junior goalkeeper John Gesumaria (Cranford, N.J.) (pictured right) made 13 saves, as Kean played in its third straight game with a 7-6 score. 

The Red Hawks got on the board first, taking a 1-0 lead when senior midfielder John Schiavone (Montclair, N.J.) scored off the assist from sophomore Robert Sinicola (North Caldwell, N.J.) just over three minutes into the game. 

Kean answered with three straight goals, as sophomore Mike Terry (Maplewood, N.J.) tied the game with an unassisted goal with 8:09 remaining in the first quarter.  Bertucci then followed with back-to-back goals just 66 seconds apart to give the Cougars a 3-1 lead in the opening quarter. 

Meth opened the second quarter with an unassisted goal less than three minutes in to cut the Kean lead to 3-2, before Sinicola tied the game at 3-3, scoring off the assist from junior midfielder Taylor Bonner (Old Bridge, N.J.) with 10:34 remaining in the quarter. 

The Cougars regained the lead less than a minute later when Bertucci (pictured left) netted his third straight goal for Kean to give the Cougars the 4-3 lead at halftime.

After both teams scored a pair of goals in the third quarter, Montclair State took advantage of a Cougar penalty minutes into the fourth quarter to even things up, when Corsetto one-timed a pass from senior attack Tyler Meixner (Hamburg, N.J.) to tie the game at 6-6 with 12:17 to go in the game. 

The Red Hawks scored again just 45 second later with what would be the final goal of the game, as Glander netted the game-winner off the pass from Corsetto with 10:32 remaining.

Montclair State controlled possession of the ball for a majority of the final minutes, however the Cougars regained the ball with just 18 seconds remaining and had the ball on their offensive end of the field with seven seconds to go, however a shot by junior CJ Gannon (Morris Plains, N.J.) sailed wide and Montclair State claimed their first trip to the NCAA tournament and avenged last year's 8-7 loss to the Cougars in the championship game. 

Senior Chris DeCarlo (Sandy, Utah) finished with two goals and one assist for the Cougars, while rookie  won 7-of-8 faceoffs and picked up three groundballs.

For Montclair State, senior goalkeeper Thomas Bowers (Hamburg, N.J.) made eight saves in the victory.

The Cougars, who had nine goals determined by two goals or less this season, await a possible bid to the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships, with selections announced on Monday, May 4.