Women’s Soccer won their third-straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship with an emphatic 7-1 victory over Siena at Hesse Field on the Great Lawn on Sunday night.
“The MAAC Championship is the goal every season so that’s the expectation for our program,” said Head Coach Krissy Turner. “A terrific regular season capped off by an amazing championship weekend. I am super proud of this team.”
Junior forward Madie Gibson opened the championship’s scoring with her eighth goal of the season after converting a penalty kick in the 16th minute.
Junior midfielder Lexie Palladino scored the only other goal of the first half on a cross from junior forward Dana Scheriff, who finished with two assists on the day.
It was freshman defender Jesi Rossman who helped the Hawks pull away in the second half with two headed goals of her own within the first five minutes. Both goals were assisted on corner kicks from Gibson who finished the MAAC Tournament with two goals and two assists in just two games.
Seniors Alli DeLuca and Jazlyn Moya also got involved in the second half with back to back goals as the Hawks scored four times within the first fifteen minutes.
Siena did pull one back in the 73rd minute, but Monmouth cancelled it out just 65 seconds later.
Freshman forward Alexis Marino closed out the game’s scoring with her first career goal on a left footer to make the final 7-1 Monmouth.
The Hawks initially opened tournament play on Thursday evening, continuing their now double-digit winning streak with a 3-0 shutout against the Purple Eagles of Niagara with all three goals coming in the first half of play.
“Anytime we get a shutout it’s a terrific accomplishment,” said Turner. “To have three goals from three different players is a sign of our balance and how strong we are as a team.”
Palladino had the hot foot in the first few minutes as she assisted the first two goals of the game.
A fifth-minute left-footer to the far post from Gibson opened the scoring, and she went on to finish the game with four shots, three on target.
Five minutes later, a 20-yard rip from freshman midfielder Jill Conklin made it two. The goal for Conklin was just one of her four shots on the busy day, two of which were on goal.
Moya closed out the first half and eventually the whole game’s scoring with a rebound on a blocked shot assisted by DeLuca.
Junior goalkeeper Amanda Knaub was easily able to preserve the lead her offense built for her with three saves on the day to close out the shutout victory. The shutout was her second clean sheet in six career MAAC tournament games.
“We strive for this every year so it is a huge accomplishment to finally get there and get another win under our belt,” said Gibson.
Gibson’s goal in the semi-final was her seventh of the season and 20th point, which tied her for 11th in program history.
Monmouth will next travel to Charlottesville, VA to face No. 11 Virginia in the first round of the NCAA Championship. Kickoff from Klockner Stadium is slated for 7:00 p.m.
PHOTO TAKEN by Karlee Sell
