MONTCLAIR, N.J. - Jack Cleary scored the game-winning goal with 2:58 left in regulation as Montclair State defeated the Vassar College Men's Lacrosse team 11-10 in the season opener on Wednesday evening. The Red Hawks move to 1-0 overall while the Brewers fell to 0-1.

Vassar got on the board first in the opening quarter as junior Troy Santise fired one in the back of the net for his first goal of the season for the man-up goal at the 13:32 mark. Freshman Anderson Eads registered a shot with 9:38 remaining to try to put the Brewers up two early but it was saved by Red Hawks goalkeeper Brandon Shevins.

Montclair State had two strong scoring chances from Tyler McCreery and Jack Cleary with just over eight minutes left in the period as senior goalie Jack Bagin made back-to-back saves to keep the Brewers advantage. The Red Hawks drew even with 5:38 left in the opening period as Mike McCreery fed Joe Covino for his first goal of the season.

The Brewers struck twice early in the second quarter as junior Ian Zumpano scored both goals and was assisted by sophomore Holden Anderson at the 13:11 mark that put Vassar up 3-1. Just a minute later, freshman Luke DeRosa scored his first collegiate goal beating the goalie to the near post from the left side to push the Vassar lead to three.

Junior Dan Negron scored the fourth straight goal for the Brewers off a pass from senior Riley Olds with 5:39 left in the half before the Red Hawks answered with a tally from Connor Gabilanes on a feed from M. McCreery. Olds scored his first goal of the season with 3:11 left on an assist from rookie TJ Carl before Montclair State scored twice in the final minute of the half from Daren Mayer and Mathew Holland to cut the Vassar lead to 6-4 at the half.

The Red Hawks got within one goal at the 12:31 mark of the third quarter on a man-up goal from T. McCreery before Vassar's lead grew back to three goals on a goal from Olds on an assist from junior Ryan Metz and the second goal of the game from Santise off a feed from rookie Baker Morton. 

Montclair State answered once again to cut the lead to one on a goal from Ryan Vierbuchen off a pass from Gabilanes and a tally from Holland from Mayer at the 5:56 mark of the quarter. Vierbuchen then handed out an assist to Matt Dancsecs with 2:37 left to tie the game at eight for the Red Hawks. Negron and Olds each had two shots before the end of the period but goalie David Metzger turned away both to keep the game tied after three.

Santise recorded his third goal of the contest just 28 seconds into the fourth quarter off a feed from Eads along with an assist on a goal by Olds at the 12:35 mark to get the advantage back to two at 10-8.

Back-to-back goals from Holland and Vierbuchen drew the Red Hawks even again at 10 apiece with 8:27 left in regulation. Cleary put the Red Hawks ahead 11-10 with 2:58 remaining in the fourth quarter and senior James Nicholas' shot with 11 seconds left was saved by Metzger to clinch the victory for Montclair State.

Olds and Santise each finished with three goals and one assist for Vassar while Olds picked up two ground balls. Zumpano finished with two goals while DeRosa and Negron each tallied a goal each. Metz, Morton, Anderson, Eads and Carl each picked up an assist while senior Dillon Dierman led the team in ground balls with five and caused turnovers with two. Sophomore Matteo Roman added two caused turnovers and two groundballs along with junior Solomon Hess recording three ground balls and one caused turnover. Bagin made 18 saves in goal for the Brewers in the loss

Holland led the way for Montclair State with three goals while Vierbuchen added two goals and one assist. Six other players scored a goal while Lucas Novack picked up a game-high six ground balls and was 10-14 in faceoffs. Patrick Bourke led the team in caused turnovers with three and added three ground balls. Shevins made four saves in the first half for Montclair State and Metzger made nine saves to earn the victory in net.

Vassar will play its home opener on Saturday afternoon when they welcome Swarthmore to Poughkeepsie. The contest with the Garnet at Weinberg Field is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.