Montclair, N.J. (4/17/13) – The Montclair State University men's lacrosse team used a fourth quarter surge to hold on and defeat Kean University by the final of 10-6 Wednesday evening in Skyline action.
Junior attack Sam Morrissey led MSU with three goals as Montclair State took over sole possession of first place in the Skyline Conference. The Red Hawks now lead the Skyline with a 5-0 record, one game ahead of the Cougars (4-1). Both teams close out the regular season on Saturday with the Cougars taking on the College of Mt. St. Vincent at 4:30 p.m.
Junior midfielder John Marcelli had three goals for the Cougars, who had their program-record 13-game winning streak snapped as Kean (13-2) fell for the first time since its season opener on February 23, a 6-5 loss vs. Adrian College. Kean hosts Mount St. Vincent on Saturday at 4:30 and needs either a win or a Farmingdale State loss to clinch the No. 2 seed.
Junior goalkeeper Michael Dorn made 12 saves for the Red Hawks (11-4).
Montclair State scored quickly as junior Ken Bogert won the opening faceoff and raced down the middle of the field before passing off to Jack Skeels on the wing. Skeels ripped a shot into the back of the net as MSU led 1-0 11 seconds into the contest.
That would be it for the scoring as Dorn and counterpart Dino Vitale, who totaled 11 saves, combined to make 10 saves in the opening period with Dorn getting six as the Red Hawks held that one-goal advantage after one quarter.
In the second, the Red Hawks struck early again scoring 61 seconds into the period with a man-down goal from Morrissey for a 2-0 lead. That was answered immediately as Kean won the ensuing faceoff with Richard Cheifitz getting the goal 10 seconds later making the scored 2-1.
Montclair would get goals from Morrissey and Bogert extending its lead to 4-1 before Cheifitz's second goal with 31 seconds to before halftime brought Kean within 4-2.
Michael Jevic, who finished with two goals, scored with 12:31 remaining in the third to give MSU a three-goal cushion but Marcelli's first with 11:06 to go made it 5-3. Morrisey and Jevic scored with less than three minutes left as Montclair had a comfortable 7-3 lead after three.
Kean quickly made that lead uncomfortable in the early fourth as Marcelli scored back-to-back goals, the latter coming with 12:17 remaining trimming the MSU lead to 7-5. Sophomore Colton Schenck stopped the run with a man-up goal 21 seconds later but Kean hung around as Sean Bobal scored with 8:59 to play as the Cougars were within 8-6.
Bogert then came up with a huge play as he won the faceoff and scored eight seconds after the Bobal goal and Zach Schreck followed with an unassisted tally with 7:26 left for what turned out to be the final margin.
Cheifitz finished with two goals for the Cougars with Scott Buchanan (pictured left) registering five ground balls with eight faceoff wins.
