Men’s lacrosse bounced back from their heartbreaking double overtime season opener with a huge 17-4 victory on Wednesday at Wagner.
It was a come from behind effort for the Hawks to start the game as Wagner found the back of the net first striking within the first few minutes. Monmouth responded quickly however, as redshirt senior midfielder Dylan Schulte began a string of eight straight Hawk goals. Schulte and fellow senior Bryce Wasserman led the first half charge with two goals apiece helping lead Monmouth to a 9-2 advantage at the half.
Junior attack Hunter Jones got the second half scoring going as well with his early transition goal assisted by Wasserman. From here it was more of the same from the Hawks who continued the offensive outpour scoring seven more times while only allowing four goals in the game.
“Today was a really good day for our guys,” Monmouth Head Coach Brian Fisher said. “We handled the adjustments really well on a short week and that showed today.”
The defensive effort was certainly on display in addition as Monmouth senior defender Joe Lucas made his first-career start on defense and his help was surely noticed.
One of Monmouth’s eight second half goals came from none other than Schulte who completed his second career hat trick.
Several young Hawks made their debuts in the game including freshman attack Max Brooks who ended the day’s scoring with his first-career goal in the final minute of the game, capping off the victory. Brooks was one of nine players in the game who made their Monmouth debuts against Wagner.
“It was nice to get everyone on the field” Fisher said. “They played with energy and our starters were excited and enthusiastic to see them performing well.”
The win was their first of the season and fourth all time against Wagner despite playing on a short week.
A quick turnaround was ahead of the Hawks again as they had their 2018 home-opener on a rainy Saturday afternoon against Delaware.
Saturday’s story was much different than Wednesdays as Monmouth began the day’s scoring on a Wasserman goal. The lead didn’t last long however as Delaware responded with a 6-0 run of their own.
The Blue Hen momentum came to an abrupt stop when Wasserman found the back of the net for his second time of the day, getting the Hawks sideline roaring and on their feet. The goal cut the deficit to four goals, however Delaware was able to tack on two more of their own before the buzzer, heading into the half with an 8-2 lead.
The second half included several momentum swings including Hunter Jones’ beautiful rebound in front of the net and score. However, Monmouth was never able to fully gain control of the game as they trailed by as many as 10 goals in the second half.
A positive note for the Hawks was that they closed the fourth quarter out by scoring seven of the game’s final eight goals which cut the concluding score from a double-digit deficit to a 15-11 loss. Three of those final seven MU goals came from sophomore midfielder Zach Clemente who certainly did not shy away from the home opener spotlight as he recorded his first-career hat trick.
Monmouth will look to build on their fourth quarter success against Delaware when they travel to Massachusetts for their next game where they will take on UMass Lowell on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
PHOTO COURTESY of B51/Mark Brown
