Sports

Jessica Bonjione Montclair State's First Soccer All-America First Team Pick

Bridgewater phenom returns from high school injury to lead Montclair State soccer team to top of division.

Junior defender Jessica Bonjione made history for the Montclair State women's soccer program as she was named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Division III First-Team All-America Team.

Bonjione becomes the first player to be named to the NSCAA First-Team and just the second overall as she joins goalkeeper Stephanie Romanko, who was named Third Team in 2002. Ironically, Bonjione played for Romanko at Bridgewater-Raritan High School during her scholastic career.

Her soccer career was nearly dashed in 2009, when she suffered a torn ACL, just as she as setting her sights on playing at Montclair State after graduation.

She was sidelined her junior year but came back to help lead the Panthers—and get that chance to play at Montclair State. 

The selection to the First-Team All-America Team makes the junior an All-American on and off the field as she was named to the Capital One Academic All-America Third Team in November.

Bonjione helped the Red Hawks to the most successful season in program history in 2013 as Montclair went 20-1-1, setting a single-season mark for victories while also establishing a new program mark for consecutive wins. MSU won its first 18 games and recorded the 10th undefeated regular season in Montclair State athletic history.

In addition the Red Hawks captured the NJAC regular-season title for a second straight year and reached the Sectional Tournament of the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championship for first time. MSU also reached a program-best No. 5 in the NSCAA national rankings during the year and was ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Division III South Atlantic Regional Rankings heading into the national tournament.

Montclair also spent several weeks at No. 1 in the D3Soccer.com Top 25.

Montclair, which went 9-0 in the NJAC for the first time, was one of the top teams statistically in Division III this year. MSU led the nation in goals against average at 0.18 allowing just four goals in 22 contests while posting 19 shutouts, another program record. The Red Hawks tied William Smith for the national lead in shutout percentage at 0.864.

Bonjione, named First-Team All-Region by the NSCAA, anchored the defensive unit that allowed just 115 shots in 22 games, an average of 5.2 per contest. Named to the Capital One Academic All-America Team in November, Bonjione also collected her first career goal this season scoring once against Ramapo on October 26.

Bonjione has appeared in 63 games in her career, including all 22 this season. During that time the Red Hawks have posted a 49-8-6 record winnning the NJAC title last season while making back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. MSU has allowed just 29 goals during that span.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here