Field Hockey finished the week with a win and a loss at So Sweet a Cat Field after beating Drexel by a score of 5-0 and losing to William & Mary 3-1.
In their game against Drexel, The Hawks started off hot as they were able to get nine shots off against their opponent in the first quarter. Monmouth’s first goal against Drexel came in the 10th minute when freshman forward Yasmin Pratt deflected a ball in the corner. Pratt’s goal was assisted by junior midfielder Ireen Frenken who currently leads the Hawks in assists with four.
Roughly a minute later, the Blue and White added another goal to their lead as midfielder Aylin Aufenacker tacked on another goal off of a breakaway.
Graduate student Stefanie Bigler piled onto the lead four minutes into the second quarter. This was the third goal of her career as a Hawk. Monmouth ended the first half in commanding fashion as they held a 3-0 lead and outshot the Dragons 12-5.
The Hawks other two goals of the contest both came in the fourth quarter and came off the same stick. Freshman forward Colleen Craven scored the first two goals of her collegiate career only 54 seconds apart from each other. Craven became the fourth Hawk this season to have a multi-goal game. She is also the third freshman to do so.
“It was important for us to bounce back from Rutgers,” said Head Coach Carli Figlio. “It was great getting contributions from many different people and correcting our mistakes from last weekend.”
It was a great effort on both sides of the field as sophomore goalkeeper Kate O’Hogan did not allow any goals in the contest as she also made three saves. O’Hogan recorded her first solo shutout of the season. The Hawk’s defense was also able to fend off ten attacking corners from Drexel.
Senior midfielder Josephine van der Hoop finished the game with a pair of assists and is now sitting at 68 points for her career.
This was the seventh time Monmouth has faced off against Drexel and only the second time they came out victorious. Drexel fell to 1-5 after their loss to the blue and white
On Sunday, Monmouth ended their homestand with a loss to William & Mary. The Hawks gave up a goal in just the sixth minute to fall into an early 1-0 hole.
The next goal of the game did not occur until the third quarter where William & Mary added another goal making their lead 2-0. The Hawks however showed some late life when Pratt scored off a rebound in the 51st minute cutting the deficit in half. William & Mary would score however in the 59th minute to end any hope of a Monmouth comeback.
“We waited too long to put pressure on the ball. I thought the last quarter when we applied a higher press, we looked better,” said Figlio. “Credit to William & Mary, they played tremendous defense and were a strong team to play against.”
The Hawks were evenly matched with William & Mary despite the loss as they were only outshot 13-12. Both sides stayed out of foul trouble and did not commit a single offsides.
Pratt now has a total of 17 points for the Hawks as well as seven goals which leads the team in both categories.
After Sunday’s loss the Hawks fall to 5-3 while William and Mary move to 2-4. The Hawks head on the road to face off against Lafayette on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.
PHOTO COURTESY of Monmouth Athletics
