The Monmouth field hockey team began conference play this past Friday with a 4-0 win over Sacred Heart University. Four different Hawks tallied goals in the game and senior defender Julie Laszlo led the way with three assists. The Hawks have now won six straight and improve to 8-2 on the year.
“It’s very important to get off to a good start in conference and it was nice to be at home to start league play. I think we held possession really well and being able to finish the way we did in the first half proved to be the deciding factor,” said Head Coach Carli Figlio.
It took only three minutes for the Hawks to score their first of the day. Freshman defender Tamar Klinkhammer buried a rebound off a Laszlo corner to give them the initial led. The Hawks never looked back from there and sustained the led throughout the remainder of the match.
Nearly ten minutes later junior defender Georgia Garden Bachop, fresh off her outstanding performance last week, deflected a corner for the second goal of the game. Junior forward Kelly Hanna followed up shortly with a nifty goal where she spun around and netted Laszlo’s third and final assist for the day. Sophomore forward Josephine Van der Hoop, not to be out done by fellow Dutch teammates, made her presence felt in the 24th minute by burying a feed from senior midfielder Rachel Konowal. That would finalize scoring for the Hawks and they would go into the half with a 4-0 lead.
Monmouth coasted to victory in the second half by playing tight. The Hawk’s defense was so impressive on the day that senior goalkeeper Christen Piersanti did not have to make a save. This is her 16th shutout in her career and third of the season. In addition to a dominating defensive effort, the Hawks were even more impressive on shot differential. Monmouth outshot Sacred Heart by 31 and did not even allow a shot in the second half.
Figlio said, “I was pleased with the finishing in the first half and the possession in the game. We really have to put two halves together. We have to be able to finish the ball in the second. I would also like to see better organization on the defense side and if we did that we would be improved.”
In other news three Hawks earned Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) awards this week. Klinkhammer achieved her first MAAC Rookie of the Week last week. Klinkhammer was on the field for every minute against both Drexel and Indiana and was a key part in both victories. Two other Hawks, senior Mallory Kusakavitch and junior defender Georgia Garden Bachop, brought home weekly awards also. Kusakavitch was tabbed as the MAAC offensive player of the week for her two-goal outing against Drexel, while Bachop earned defensive player of the week in part for her game winning goal against Indiana.
Klinkhammer offered her thoughts on the award and her efforts after the game, “It means a lot and I am honored to be here and play for Monmouth. I am honored to be a freshman who is playing and that means a lot because that does not happen a lot. I have supportive teammates who help me because everything is really new, and they help me to understand it better.”
The Hawks (8-2, 1-0 MAAC) are on the road for their next two games. They first travel to take on Fairfield University on Oct. 6 at 4:00 p.m. and follow that up with an Oct. 8 matchup against Hofstra at 1:00 p.m. The Hawks last played against Fairfield in the MAAC Title Game in 2016 and this game is a pivotal match up for the Hawks.
PHOTO COURTESY of B51/Mark Brown
