#2 Montclair State - 14, #1 Farmingdale State - 12
Farmingdale, N.Y. - The top-seeded Farmingdale State women's lacrosse team fell in today's Skyline Championship game, 14-12, to #2 seed Montclair State. The Rams (13-2) saw their winningest season come to an end, as the Red Hawks (13-4) receive the conference's automatic bid and move on to the NCAA Division III Tournament. Montclair's senior attack Maggie Fallon (Cherry Hill, N.J.) was named the Tournament MVP.
It was an evenly matched game that came down to the final minutes. Farmingdale State held the advantage in shots 33-29, ground balls 18-17 and forced 22 turnovers, while Montclair edged the Rams on draw controls 15-13.
Early in the game, Montclair went up 5-0 and held the five goal lead over the first ten minutes. With a 6-1 score and 20 minutes to play in the first half, the Rams slowly chipped away and would hold the Red Hawks to three goals before the break. Farmingdale State trailed 9-8 at halftime.
In the second, freshman Christy Thoden (Bayport, N.Y.) connected off a pass from senior attack Krystin Shand (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) to tie the game at 9-9 with 26:02 left to play. Montclair's Fallon converted a free position shot a minute later to give her team the lead, 10-9.
Freshman midfielder Nicole Marzocca (West Babylon, N.Y.) scored an unassisted goal at the 15-minute mark to tie the game at 10-10, before Shand added her own unassisted goal just 39 seconds later to give the Rams their first lead of the game, 11-10.
Junior attack Kailee Beal (Succasunna, N.J.) scored two straight goals for Montclair State, followed by a goal from freshman attack Tierney Conlon (Caldwell, N.J.) for a two goal cushion, 13-11, with 9:37 on the clock.
Sophomore midfielder Jordyn Hasemann (Farmingdale, N.Y.) put the game within one, 13-12, scoring on a pass from junior attack Carly Schneider (Merrick, N.Y.) with 1:19 to go.
But Fallon scored with 39 seconds remaining to assure the victory for Montclair State.
Montclair's Fallon scored a game-high five goals, while Tierney dished off five assists and scored two goals. Beal posted 11 draw controls, four goals and one assist. Junior goalkeeper Tiffani Henderson (Landing, N.J.) made 10 saves for the win.
For Farmingdale State, senior goalkeeper Courtney Cook (Deer Park, N.Y.) made 11 saves in defeat. Marzocca finished with a team-leading five points, including four goals and one assist. Schneider totaled three goals and one assist, while Thoden scored two goals, one assist and five draw controls.
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