The Monmouth women’s soccer team defeated Fairfield and Canisius on the road to become regular season Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Champions. The Hawks will be hosting the MAAC Tournament for the fourth consecutive year.
“It feels awesome to be regular season champs for the fourth year in a row. However, our season is not close to over and I can’t wait to see what the MAAC Championship has in store for us this year,” said senior defender Julie Spracklin.
The Hawks played their last two road games of the regular season this past week by shutting out their opponents in both games and securing home field advantage for the tournament. On Wednesday night they traveled to Fairfield, CT and played a scoreless draw on Lessing Field. Although the game was scoreless, the Hawks still earned a point in the MAAC standings from out-shooting Fairfield 21-7.
“In the second half and overtime periods, we applied heavy pressure on their goal and it was unfortunate we did not score. To get our ninth shutout of the season shows our commitment to defending,” said Head Coach Krissy Turner.
The Hawks’ defense has been phenomenal this season, with a combined nine shutouts. This has been the most shutouts for the Hawks since the 2014 season, when they had 11 shutouts.
Their most recent shutout was Saturday night in Buffalo, NY as they defeated Canisius 3-0 at Demske Sports Complex. The Hawks got on the board very quickly, which seems to be a reoccurring factor this season that has been energizing confidence and performance for the blue and white. Redshirt freshman forward Madie Gibson booted a goal from close range into the upper right corner of the net at just 5:47 into the game, assisted by redshirt senior forward Rachael Ivanicki.
After Gibson’s quick goal, the Hawks didn’t score until the second half. Spracklin boosted the Hawks’ lead to 2-0 after scoring off a penalty kick at 64:46 in the game. A little over a minute later, senior forward Alexis McTamney scored off of a give-and-go from Gibson, making the score 3-0.
“As a coaching staff, we are extremely proud of this year’s team. We went through conference play as a force on the road and are playing well at home,” Turner said. “It is a credit to our players for giving us nothing but their best every day to win the regular season. Also, it is a tremendous accomplishment for our senior class to win four regular season titles.”
The Hawks are just one game away from competing in the MAAC tournament and have a lot of energy and all the confidence they need to excel in the tournament. As Spracklin previously said, the season is not close to ending and they can’t become content with just regular season MAAC champions. This MAAC tournament will mean a lot to the team, especially the seniors who lost in the first round of tournament play on their home field a season ago. That being said, the Hawks will be playing with a little more than just energy, but with a little vengeance as well.
Support your Monmouth University women’s soccer team tonight at 7 pm at Hesse Field on The Great Lawn to watch their last regular season game of the 2016 season. The game will be televised on ESPN3 and will be available on the WatchESPN app.
PHOTO COURTESY of Monmouth University Athletics
