It was a night to remember for the Montclair State University women’s soccer team after a stellar 8-1 victory Friday evening against Cairn University.
After a rough stretch of games to start the season, both squads were looking for a fresh start. For one of these teams, their struggles would continue. Montclair State made sure it would not be them.
The Red Hawks got off to an amazing start, with excellent control of the midfield leading to multiple corner kicks and early opportunities to score.
The Red Hawks pressure was on from the first minute, and it only took until the eighth for Montclair State to capitalize.
Junior forward Mackenzie Albert made things happen first, as she took advantage of a well-placed pass from defender Tara Lambert to make it 1-0.
Just three minutes later, Albert got through to the goal again. This time, she delivered a perfectly lofted pass toward senior defender Emmi Denovellis that was met with a precise right-foot finish, making it 2-0.
Cairn was able to keep the score at 2-0 after 45 minutes but were unable to score themselves. Montclair State had made it seemingly impossible for them to gain control of the ball anywhere near scoring range.
It was going to be interesting to see what adjustments head coach Kailey Bartholomew made heading into the next period. With her players in desperate need of a new strategy, they would need to put in hard work to come back from this deficit.
Ultimately, it was just more of the same for the rest of the contest. The Red Hawk scored four more goals within the first 10 minutes of the second period.
Sophomore midfielder Danielle Mullins, sophomore forward Madeline Lesica, senior midfielder Aileen Cahill and junior midfielder Emily Schuler all found the back of the net. One by one, goal after goal, these Red Hawks kept pouring it on for Montclair State. The lead was up to six goals after only 55 minutes.
Emily Schuler had a standout performance. Whether she was moving into upper midfield to disrupt passing lanes or taking the ball carrier head-on and winning possession back for her side, she was truly doing it all on the pitch Friday night.
Schuler was a pivotal reason for why the Highlanders’ attack had no margin for error as soon as they crossed the halfway line.
She rewarded herself with an absolute screamer of a goal from way outside the box that sailed over the Cairn goalkeeper into the net.
A goal from sophomore forward Haley Thaler in the seventy-third minute, a consolation goal from a free kick for Cairn in the 76th, and a converted penalty from senior forward Niki Danz in the saw the final score as 8-1.
It is not every day that your team scores eight goals in one match. It is even less unlikely that those eight were more than the Red Hawks had scored all season prior.
Head coach Pat Naughter said that every player did their part during the match.
“We got a lot of good players, and were playing really well,” Naughter said. “So, if you keep doing the right thing over and over again, you’re bound to get the results. I thought they showed a lot of confidence tonight.”
