On Saturday afternoon, the men’s lacrosse team hosted Detroit Mercy at Hesse Field, dropping a 9-8 decision in overtime.
After opening Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play on March 17 with a win over Manhattan, the Hawks’ conference schedule continued with a matchup against Detroit Mercy, who had begun conference play with a win of their own over Marist.
At 10:31 of the first quarter, freshman attack/midfield Brock Anderson opened the scoring for the Hawks on the man advantage. The Lions would go on to score five of the next six goals in the first half, taking a 5-2 lead into the locker room. The only other Monmouth goal scored in the first half was by senior midfield Grier Wilson, who had tied the game at two at 11:32 of the second quarter before Detroit Mercy scored three unanswered goals to close out the half.
The Hawks came out storming in the third quarter, outscoring the Lions 4-1 in the frame. Senior attack Bryce Wasserman’s fantastic season continued as he netted his sixteenth goal of the season at 12:25 to open the frame. After the Lions answered a few minutes later, making the score 6-3, the blue and white scored three unanswered goals of their own. The three goals came courtesy of Wasserman and junior attack Hunter Jones. Wasserman scored two of them to complete the hat trick and up his season goal total to 18.
Knotted at six goals a piece going into the fourth quarter, Detroit Mercy opened the scoring in the frame at 12:16 with a man up, making it 7-6. Monmouth responded at 9:07 with a goal by junior attack Griffin Figel. Then at 5:14, Figel struck again with his eighth goal of the season, giving the Hawks the lead by a score of 8-7. With just six seconds left in regulation time, the Lions tied the game at eight, sending the game into overtime. Then, at 3:14 of the extra frame, the Lions ended the game and sealed a comeback victory by a final score of 9-8. The game-tying and game-winning goals for the Lions were scored by freshman midfield Brennan Kamish.
The heartbreaking loss made the Hawks’ overall record 3-5 and dropped their MAAC record to 1-1. On the other hand, the Lions are now 2-0 in MAAC play so far this season. The loss ended the Hawks’ nine-game winning streak against MAAC opponents.
While the Hawks had to comeback in the fourth quarter to take the lead, they did have chances to extend their lead after they made the score 8-7. “We never really got going today and even though we battled throughout the game to keep it close, we missed on some good opportunities and just were unable to finish out the game after we took the lead,” said Head Coach Brian Fisher. “Any time you lose in overtime it’s a tough pill to swallow.”
While the Hawks did lose, their offensive attack put up yet another dominant performance. At the forefront of that attack has been Wasserman, who now has 11 career hat tricks after scoring three goals in the third quarter of Saturday’s loss. He leads the blue and white this season in goals with eighteen and has eighty-three in his career. Wasserman also extended his program-best points streak to 24 games and he has now scored in every game so far this season. Another trademark of the Hawks’ offense this season has been their play in the fourth quarter, as they have now outscored their opponents 27-11 in the frame this season.
Monmouth will continue conference play next Saturday, as they visit Siena in Loudonville, NY. The opening faceoff is set for 1:00 p.m.
PHOTO TAKEN by Karlee Sell