Women's Soccer | 11/10/2014 5:16:00 PM

Montclair, NJ – The Montclair State women's soccer team will once again enjoy the comforts for the 1^st and 2^nd rounds of the NCAA Tournament as the 64-team bracket was unveiled this morning on NCAA.com.

The Red Hawks (17-1-2) will serve as hosts for a four-team bracket this weekend at MSU Soccer Park. Montclair will take on Lesley University (18-3) at 5:00 pm in the first of two games with Connecticut College (15-2-1) meeting Swarthmore College (13-6-1) at 7:30 pm on Saturday, November 15.
The winners advance to the second round on Sunday, November 16 at 5:00 pm with the victor of that contest moving on to the NCAA Sectional Tournament next weekend.

Montclair State will be making its third straight and fifth appearance in the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championship. The Red Hawks are 5-3-1 in those games including last season when it advanced to the Sectional Tournament for the first time in program history. Playing at home, MSU knocked off Colby-Sawyer 1-0 in the first round before rolling past Bowdoin 7-0. Montclair fell to eventual national runner-up Trinity University (TX) 2-1 in the Sectional Semifinals in San Antonio, TX.

MSU beat Bay Path 4-0 in the 2004 tournament before being knocked out by Messiah in penalty kicks following scoreless draw. In 2006, Montclair State defeated Nazareth 1-0 in the first round and lost to host Elizabethtown the next day by the same score in overtime. Two seasons ago, MSU traveled to Lynchburg and beat Averett University 2-1 in overtime on a goal by MELANIE GRECO. The Red Hawks lost to host Lynchburg in the second round, 2-0.

Montclair State punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament after capturing the New Jersey Athletic Conference championship on Saturday with a penalty kick win against The
College of New Jersey following a 1-1 tie. It was MSU's third conference title and was captured in dramatic fashion as goalkeeper GINA POLICASTRO stopped eight shots including several spectacular stops in the second half and overtime periods. She made three more in the penalty kicks as MSU claimed the title with a 3-2 shootout win.

Lesley also got into the tournament via the automatic bid as the Lynx defeated Elms College, 3-0 to capture the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC). The trip to the NCAA Tournament is their third straight and third in program history for Lesley.

Connecticut College is making its second NCAA Tournament appearance and the first since 1998 when it reached the Elite 8 of the tournament. Like Montclair State, the Camels went to penalty kicks to win their conference championship. Connecticut College downed Williams 4-3 in the shootout to win the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) for the first time in program history. It was also the first NESCAC victory in any sport for the Camels.

Swarthmore is the third team to penalty kick their way into the NCAA Tournament as the Garnet upended No.22 Johns Hopkins 5-4 in a shootout to claim the Centennial Conference Championship. Swarthmore became the first fifth seed to win the title since the Centennial Conference Tournament began in 2001.

The Red Hawks have never met Lesley University or Connecticut College and have a limited history of three meetings with Swarthmore. One of those came three weeks ago as Montclair State defeated the Garnet, 2-0 at MSU Soccer Park. STEFANIE GOMES and KERRY GLYNN scored on each side of halftime while Policastro made three saves.

Related Links
NCAA Division III Tournament Bracket
NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Page
Lesley University Women's Soccer Page
Connecticut College Women's Soccer Page
Swarthmore College Women's Soccer Page