The women’s lacrosse team took home one out of two games this past week, winning on Saturday against Villanova and losing Wednesday against Drexel. Monmouth put up a strong performance in both games and now their record stands at 2-4 on the season.
Wednesday’s matchup against Drexel resulted in a 11-9 loss that extended the losing streak to four. Monmouth scored first in the tilt with a goal by junior mid-fielder Caroline Corbliss, assisted by senior mid-fielder Claudia LaMarca, four minutes into the game.
Seven minutes later, Drexel tied and then subsequently took the lead scoring twice in a short time frame. Monmouth’s senior attacker Olivia Higson answered a minute later knotting the game at 2. Over the remainder of the half both Drexel and Monmouth would register two more goals apiece resulting in a 4-4 tie at the halfway mark.
Drexel was first to strike in the second half, but Monmouth was quick to answer as junior mid-fielder Kate Ryan netted back-to-back goals to tie and give Monmouth the lead. Drexel responded swiftly, both teams exchanged goals over the next 10 minutes, and with 8:55 left on the clock the game was tied 8-8.
Drexel broke the tie and then proceeded to extend their lead with two quick goals and the Hawks found themselves down by two with seven minutes remaining. Monmouth senior attacker Alexandra Stambaugh cut that lead in half, but Drexel retorted with goal of their own to establish another two-point differential and the ultimate outcome.
Monmouth’s defense shined in this one with a notable performance from sophomore goaltender Riley Brager. She made 10 saves on 32 shot attempts and did not allow Drexel to score on any of their five free position shots.
“A lot of our defensive success came down to Riley [Brager] and she had a great day, she really stepped up,” Head Coach Eileen Ghent said. “I think this was the best sixty minutes we have played so far. Using that to push us forward to Saturday’s Villanova is crucial.”
Monmouth’s offense exploded on Saturday against Villanova, scoring 17 goals to achieve their second win of the season and end their four game slide. The Hawks once again scored first in the game in thanks to senior attacker Olivia Higson. Villanova responded with two goals of their own to take the lead, which was quickly retaken by Monmouth with two goals of their own. The Wildcats tied the game at three and MU went on a six-goal run to put themselves ahead 9-3. Before the end of the half Villanova added two more goals to Monmouth’s one and the halftime score read 10-5 in favor of the Hawks.
Monmouth erupted right out of the half, putting up five goals in seven minutes to take a commanding lead. Villanova chipped away at the lead over the remainder of the game but the ten-point differential was too much to overcome. When time expired Monmouth walked off with an impressive 17-11 victory. Nine Hawks registered goals including sophomore defender Monica Cortes who scored the first goal of her career.
“It was great to see so many people have an impact offensively today,” Ghent said. “We have been working on sharing the responsibility of scoring and today we did just that.”
The Hawks won despite being outshot 32-28 by Villanova in part due to another impressive 11 save game by Brager. Monmouth also was able to convert four out of their five free positon shots while restricting Villanova to five out of ten.
Monmouth will look to continue with their high level of play as they will take on Delaware today at 6:00 p.m. on Hesse Field at The Great lawn. The game will also be broadcasted on ESPN3.
PHOTO COURTESY of Monmouth University Athletics