On Sunday night at 6 pm, the Hawks defeated Fairleigh Dickinson University by a score of 1-0. The contest not only marked the women’s soccer teams sixth win, but it also noted their final non-conference game of the season. The lone goal was scored in the 80th minute of play by senior forward Monique Plescia. With the win, the blue and white post their fifth shutout of the season.
The first half saw a lot of possession for the Hawks, despite their sluggish play. With a lot of the game being played at the midfield, both teams became rather frustrated.
“You just need to keep your head in the game,” Plescia said. “At the end of the day, champions find a way to win”.
The Hawks had an opportunity at the end of the first half to take the lead, with a penalty kick. However, FDU goalkeeper Sage DoVale made a sprawling save to her left keeping the game scoreless. Both teams could not connect on their final passes to gain an advantage and because of that the score was tied at 0-0 going at half.
MU’s head coach Krissy Turner said, “At halftime I wasn’t very pleased, because I thought we were playing too slow. FDU was sitting back and giving us space and I think when teams do that you have to attack the spaces faster. I thought we were just too slow in our decision making.”
The second half began with MU pushing the tempo and making more appearances near the Knights’ net, but they could not yet score.
With the end of the game in sight, fifth-year senior goalkeeper Ashley Lewis collected the ball and punted it down the field towards senior midfielder Dana Costello. The ball bounced as Costello flicked a pass over her head and towards Plescia who was making a run to goal.
“Our goalkeeper sent a great long ball as [Dana] Costello flicked it on and I ran for the second ball and found the back of the net,” Plescia said of her first goal this season.
The Hawks outshot the Knights 13-3 as Lewis made three saves while DoVale made five saves of her own. Costello added her team leading fifth assist of the year, giving her a total of 23, which moves her into seventh place all time in MU women’s soccer career assists.
The Hawks will begin competing in their new conference, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), when they travel to face Niagara University in New York. This is the MU women’s soccer team’s first meeting with the Purple Eagles in 16 years. The Hawks post an all-time 6-1 record against the team and look to extend that streak on Saturday, September 21 at 2 pm.
