Women’s Lacrosse earned two more wins in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play this past week, defeating Iona 13-8 on Wednesday in New Rochelle, NY, and then beating Marist 15-12 on Saturday at Hesse Field on the Great Lawn.
In the Hawks’ game against Iona, Monmouth started off strong by taking a 3-1 lead within the first ten minutes of the game thanks to goals from junior attackers Allison Turturro and Nicole Ceraso.
After trading goals back and forth, the game was locked at 5-5 with 7:52 left in the first half. Two unanswered goals were then scored by Turturro and sophomore attacker Caroline Bleck, giving the Blue and White a 7-5 lead. By the end of the half, the Hawks were still out in front 7-6.
Monmouth started the second half on an offensive tear scoring five unanswered goals in a span of just over three minutes to take a 12-6 lead. Scoring for the Blue and White in this stretch was Ceraso, freshman attacker Hope Steuerwald, and junior midfielder Sarah Gillogly. Iona then chipped away at the lead, but Ceraso netted her third goal of the game with just 51 seconds remaining which ended any speculation of a possible comeback for the Gaels.
Turturro finished the game with five goals, matching her career high that she set last season against Brown.
“I feel like as a unit everyone stepped up, cuts were open,” said Turturro. “When we go fast and play hard everything works out well. Film this week was really good because we saw some opportunities we could exploit.”
Ceraso also had herself a big day as she netted a hat trick while adding five assists to her tally. She now has sole possession of second place for career assists at Monmouth with 93 and is only 11 assists away from becoming the Hawks’ all-time leader.
Defensively, sophomore defender Emily Holtz had a career day as she caused four turnovers setting a new career high. She also recorded three ground balls in the contest.
Monmouth came back home for a Saturday game against another conference opponent, Marist.
“I thought that we played really well,” said Head Coach Jordan Trautman. “Today was one of the first days that we had a balanced offense and defense. When one side needed help the other side supported it and there was good give and take.”
Turturro led the Hawks with yet another five-goal performance while Bleck also contributed four goals against the Red Foxes. Senior attacker Jenny Staines also had a productive game, notching a hat trick while also tallying an assist.
“I’m not surprised by how well she’s playing, this is what she does every day. It is exciting to see it actually come together on game day,” Trautman said.
Monmouth scored the opening goal just over a minute into the game, but Marist then notched the next four out of five, giving them an early 4-2 lead.
With the score tied at 5-5, the Hawks scored four goals within the final 3:14 in the half which gave them a 9-5 cushion going into halftime.
Marist scored two goals at the beginning of the second half to cut the Monmouth lead to 9-7, but Bleck and Turturro netted back-to-back scores to reestablish the four goal lead. Bleck scored two of the final three Monmouth goals to widen the lead to 15-10 with 1:57 remaining in the game which would be enough to grab the victory.
Monmouth was cautious with the ball as they gave up only 11 turnovers against Marist, their lowest total of the season. The Hawks also made the most of their free position shots as they notched goals on seven out of 15 shots.
With Saturday’s win against Marist, Monmouth is riding a five-game win streak and is now 9-3 on the season with a 3-0 record in the MAAC. They have now eclipsed their win total from a season ago.
The Blue and White will next face Siena this Saturday at Kessler Stadium. The game’s coverage will begin at 1:00 p.m. and can be streamed live online via ESPN.
PHOTO TAKEN by Karlee Sell
