Field hockey put together an undefeated week of play going 2-0 while improving their early season record to 3-1 with road wins at Hofstra and Villanova.
Wednesday’s victory in New York was of the shutout variety by the Hawks who had a plethora of players contributing to the effort with four of them finding the back of the net in the 6-0 final. Sophomore forward Annick van Lange and freshman forward Yasmin Pratt led the charge with two goals a piece and a combined ten total shots. Both players found the scoreboard in the first half of play giving Monmouth the 2-0 advantage at the break.
Van Lange’s second goal of the afternoon came just minutes into the second half after Pratt possessed the ball into the Hofstra zone and assisted the 3-0 score. The Hawks did not let up from here as they continued to pour on the offense with three more goals in the second half despite being interrupted by an hour-long weather delay due to lightning.
Senior midfielder Josephine van der Hoop and graduate student midfielder Stefanie Bigler scored within the same minute on corner and fast break opportunities making the score 5-0.
The final goal of the afternoon came after the weather delay when Pratt capitalized on a deflection in front of the net with just minutes to go for her fifth point of the game and second straight multi-goal performance.
“It was good to see us bounce back from Sunday,” said Head Coach Carli Figlio. “We need to continue to get 1 percent better every day.”
The shutout in goal was a combined effort from sophomore goalkeepers Kate O’Hogan and Ally Tarantino. Monmouth has now shutout the Pride for three straight seasons while outscoring them 11-0 during that stretch.
From here the blue and white traveled to Pennsylvania on Sunday afternoon to take on Villanova in what proved to be a much closer affair.
The Hawks’ offense got going early and often outshooting the Wildcats 6-1 in the first quarter of play including the first of two goals from freshman midfielder Aylin Aufenacker in the eighth minute. Van Lange also found the back of the net late in the first quarter for her third goal of the week giving Monmouth the 2-0 advantage.
Villanova fired back with two goals of their own in the second quarter bringing the game to a tie at the intermission.
“The first quarter was some of the best hockey we’ve played all season,” said Figlio. “We need to become more consistent on the field as we work towards putting a full game together. I was happy with our relentlessness and ability to fight back when things weren’t going our way.”
Fighting back is exactly what Monmouth did coming out of the half as Aufenacker scored her second goal of the game just minutes out of the locker room. After the Wildcats knotted the score back up in the third quarter, MU finally pulled away with goals from van der Hoop and junior midfielder Meg de Lange resulting in the 5-3 final.
Following the road trip, Monmouth will head home to face Penn on Friday, Sept. 13 at 3:00 p.m. in what will begin a four game homestretch at So Sweet A Cat Field.
PHOTO COURTESY of Monmouth Athletics
