MONTCLAIR, NJ — The Montclair State University women’s soccer team is officially the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) regular season champions, with a win over Rutgers–Camden by a final score of 2-0, to give Montclair State an undefeated 12-0-5 record.
Montclair State women's soccer finished unbeaten in a full regular season for the first time since 2013, earning the top seed in the upcoming conference tournament. Jabari Lewis | The Montclarion
The Red Hawks got the scoring started quickly, with a goal from senior forward Kylie Prendergast breaking the ice just over five minutes into the game. They did not let up, with four out of their five total shots on goal in the first half coming in the first 11 minutes of the game. Rutgers–Camden had just three shots in the entire game, all of which came in the first half. This sort of dominance is not unfamiliar to the Red Hawks.
This was the ninth clean sheet of the season for them out of their 17 total games. Montclair State head coach Patrick Naughter spoke after the game, giving his thoughts on the evolution of their season.
“I’m not gonna lie, I just told these guys I didn’t think we were a championship team in August. I just thought we lost too much and this conference is too good,” Naughter said. “And they proved me wrong, they’re champs.”
“I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t think we were a championship team in August," said head coach Patrick Naughter. “And they proved me wrong, they’re champs.” Photo credit: Photo courtesy of Montclair State Athletics
The second half was dominated by the Red Hawks as well, even more so than the first. Montclair State took 11 total shots and capitalized on a red card on Rutgers freshman defender Meghan Gorman, forcing Rutgers to play with a player short. Nearly 13 minutes after the red card, sophomore forward Samira Lukovic scored.
Lukovic comments on an assist on Prendegast’s goal in the first half.
“We’re honestly super proud of all the hard work we put in,” Lukovic said. “We just knew that we had to control the controllables, like our coach always told us and honestly just work hard and that kind of got us to where we are.”
Looking ahead, with the Red Hawks being the one seed, they will not play until the NJAC semifinals on November 4. They will face the winner of the New Jersey City University (NJCU) vs. Rutgers-Camden quarterfinals.
Montclair State will play the winner of New Jersey City University versus Rutgers-Camden in the conference semifinal match on Tuesday, Nov. 4. Photo credit: Photo courtesy of Montclair State Athletics
Being the one seed also guarantees that they will be home for every playoff game that they play, including a potential championship game. They faced NJCU once before this season, on homecoming and won 3-0.
When asked what his message to his team is heading into the playoffs, Naughter talked about his approach to addressing the team and how he views the position they are in.
“My message to them — I didn’t want to do it tonight because they deserve [to] think about what they’ve accomplished; they deserve a little bit of time here,” Naughter said. “It’s hard to play in this conference; it’s harder to try to end careers. So whoever we get in that semifinal, their careers are going to be on the line, our careers are going to be on the line. The intensity, the effort in the NJAC regular season’s a nine out of 10, 10 out of 10. This is going to be a 13 out of 10.”
Montclair State women's soccer has fallen in the NJAC Championship each of the past three seasons, with the program searching for its first conference title since the spring of 2021. Photo credit: Photo courtesy of Montclair State Athletics
