Saturday September 27 was homecoming at Montclair State University and the Red Hawks women’s soccer team seized a decisive 3-0 victory at home from New Jersey City University.
The win extended the Red Hawks’ unbeaten streak to eight matches to start the season and was Montclair native and MSU sophomore goalkeeper Salange Bell’s fourth shutout of the season.
In the opening minute, the Red Hawks nearly got on the board when Montclair State sophomore forward Isabell Kronow crossed to freshman midfielder Carly Guzzardo at the back post. The cross connected but Guzzardo’s shot hit the side netting. Then in the 13th minute, the Red Hawks created another scoring chance when a cross to the back post was met by senior defender Ashley DeFrancesco but her header went off the crossbar.
In the 18th minute, Montclair State broket through when senior forward Kylie Prendergast slipped past her marker down the left flank and sent a ground cross into the box. The cross was one-timed by Kronow into the back of the net to put the hosts on the board 1-0.
In the 20th minute, the NJCU Gothic Knights took a free kick that sailed into the 18-yard box and was caught by Bell. She collided with a NJCU player but no foul was given to the ire of the home bench.
Soon after that, Kronow added her second when a cross from Mackenzie Albert went over the head of a NJCU Gothic Knights defender and fell to Kronow who tapped the ball into the net past Gothic Knights senior goalkeeper Sophia Mannino and gave the Red Hawks a 2-0 lead.
With 10 minutes remaining, the Red Hawks had taken five shot attempts and two on goal to NJCU’s one.
10 minutes into the second half and NJCU have made the game more competitive although Montclair State still had the better of the run of play until the 57th minute. NJCU had a corner. It was taken and headed out to the edge of the 18-yard box where it fell to Gothic Knights’ senior midfielder Nyrorah Alvarenga. Alvarenga then ripped a shot that flew just over the bar.
A hard Foul by NJCU’s sophomore midfielder Sarah Reyes gave up a free kick, just inside Gothic Knight territory. The kick went deep into the box and was headed out by a Gothic Knight but would then fall for Montclair State’s senior midfielder Mackenzie Albert who roofed the ball into the back of the net to give the hosts a commanding 3-0 lead in the 60th minute.
With 20 minutes remaining in the game, Montclair State continued to control the tempo by making runs in behind the Gothic Knight backline and exposing it with quality through balls.
The closest the visitors came to scoring a goal came in the 77th minute. A short cross was sent in by a NJCU player that was dropped by Bell. With Bell out of the net, the ball bounced to a NJCU player who failed to connect properly with the ball, which averted danger for Montclair State. The Red Hawks asserted themselves defensively on a few more forays by NJCU into their territory and saw out the shutout at MSU Soccer Park on Saturday afternoon.
Isabell Kronow
On her first taste of NJAC conference play.
Yeah, I’m super excited. This being my first time [playing NJAC soccer] I was a little bit nervous but all the other girls prepared me, told me about what it was like and we went out there and played our best.
On what’s been clicking offensively.
Just the combinations, I mean we have so much speed up top we’re able to beat the defensive line so well and we have certain plays that we run, and it works.
Senior midfielder Emily Schuler
Winning on Homecoming.
Playing at home is just always an experience, it only brings so much energy …it’s just a really nice feeling for us to come away with the win at home.
Head coach Patrick Naughter
On being undefeated through eight games.
You know, they deserve a lot of credit. We had a bunch of new kids who came in and have meshed real well with our older kids. I like the fact that we haven’t been shutout yet, we’re doing an awesome job so we’re just taking it one at a time, we’re just trying to keep going.
On his team’s third goal.
[It’s] one of the things we talked about. NJAC games get feisty, they get contentious. We didn’t want to get confused. Control the controllables and that’s what you do with the ball, not the referee’s decisions, not the crowd, not the atmosphere, not all that stuff. Stay in the moment, do the best you can, and our group did a great job of that. We were heated about that tackle and the players just put the ball down and great service and a little bit of a scrum there and Albert rips one. That was awesome and I thought that sealed it.
On what fans can expect from his team moving forward.
Hopefully more of this. Expect the unexpected. We’ve been fortunate. Our athletic trainer’s been awesome, Caleb Skolnick. We had everybody available to play today’s game and that’s something that we haven’t had going into conference play in years past. That makes it a much easier job. When everybody’s available, you can put together a really good team. Kids have been great, they came in super fit and they’ve been doing a great job staying available. We’re going to have to overcome some adversity, just hopefully it’s nothing crazy.
What’s Next for MSU Women’s Soccer?
The Montclair State women’s soccer team will have four days to rest up before clashing with NJAC rivals Kean in Union on October 1 at 7:30 p.m.
