DOYLESTOWN (PA) – Montclair State University used a big second half surge to pull away from host Delaware Valley University and earn a 14-6 non-conference victory on Wednesday afternoon.
The Aggies fell to 2-6 on the year while the Red Hawks improved to 3-2.
Montclair State got the scoring started 1:42 in when Matt Haemmerle found himself wide open in front and capitalized. DelVal responded just 13 seconds later when
Trevor Smith scooped a ground ball on the ensuing faceoff and darted into the zone before feeding
Dylan Brasch for his first goal of the game and a 1-1 tie.
Skyler Francisco put the Red Hawks back on top with a goal at the 8:24 mark, but senior
Chris Coyle got it right back just 50 seconds later with his team-leading 18
th goal of the season.
Montclair scored twice before the end of the stanza to take a two-goal lead into the second quarter.
Just over three minutes into the second, P.J. Rafferty set up
Matt Waibel for his second goal of the season and a 4-3 game. Papa and Coyle then traded goals to round out the first half and send the teams to the locker room with the Red Hawks on top, 6-4. Each goalie was stellar in the first half with seven saves apiece.
Montclair's offense took over in the third quarter, outscoring DelVal 6-2 to open up a 12-6 lead after three. Six different players scored for the Red Hawks during that spurt including Brady Wulster who also picked up an assist. The Aggies got goals from Coyle and
Nick Shendge.
Montclair tacked on two more in the fourth quarter while holding DelVal off the board to earn the 14-6 victory. Wulster and Skyler Francisco each scored three times for the Red Hawks while Wulster also picked up an assist for a game-high four points. Haemmerle and Papa added two goals apiece and Dan Bellezza, Ben Brennan, Steve Prince and Mike Waslik all added one tally. In goal, Jack Cardew made 13 saves.
For the Aggies, Coyle led the way with three goals and the senior is now just three points away from becoming just the second player in school history with 100 points. Rafferty picked up two assists in the game and
Trevor Smith also earned a helper. Brasch, Shendge, and Waibel rounded out the scoring for DelVal while
Nic Brown made a season-high 15 saves in goal.
The Aggies will travel to Drew University for a 12 p.m. contest on Saturday before beginning conference play the following week.