Monmouth University (9-7, 5-1 CAA) faced off against Drexel (10-7, 3-3 CAA) on Friday Oct. 28. The Hawks secured a 4-2 victory over the Dragons, Monmouth’s first victory over Drexel in Philadelphia in program history, to earn the CAA regular season title in the program’s first year in the league. The win also earned Monmouth the No. 1 seed in the upcoming CAA Championship tournament.
The match remained scoreless through the first quarter, but Monmouth was quick to get on the scoreboard in the second quarter with a goal from senior forward Aylin Aufenacker. Her fifth goal of the season was made possible by freshman Alexa Ronning, who posted her first career assist to help put the Hawks ahead just 50 seconds into the second quarter.
The Hawks were aggressive to start the quarter and kept that same intensity through the entire 15 minute period, as with just three seconds to go in the first half, senior Colleen Craven played to the whistle and found the back of the net, finishing her own rebound to secure her first goal of the season and put the Hawks ahead 2-0 at halftime.
Drexel responded in the third quarter with a goal from Eline Di Leva to cut the Hawks’ lead in half, making the score 2-1. A foul inside the circle by the Dragons presented Monmouth with a penalty stroke opportunity, which was converted by graduate forward Annick van Lange in her 20th goal of the season to put her team ahead 3-1.
Van Lange is the Hawks’ leading goal scorer and is now the single-season goal record holder, surpassing Michelle Pieczynski’s 19 goals set in 2011. On Oct. 24, van Lange was named CAA Player of the Week for the fourth time this season after posting her third hattrick of the season in a 4-0 win over Towson on Sunday, Oct. 23.
Drexel’s Emily Owens was quick to respond to van Lange’s goal, scoring one for the Dragons less than a minute later to make the score 3-2. However, Jess Tucker secured the victory for Monmouth by deflecting a shot from Aufenacker into the back of the net in the final quarter, her fifth goal of the season. Tucker and Aufenacker are now tied for second in goals scored for Monmouth with five each, trailing van Lange’s 20.
It was a tough battle between the Hawks and the Dragons. Drexel earned five corners to Monmouth’s three but was ultimately unable to capitalize on shots. Monmouth outshot Drexel 15-12 and landed 14 shots on goal to Drexel’s nine. Freshman goalkeeper Phileine Hazen kept the Hawks in it all game, making seven saves in the bout.
The win marks Monmouth’s fourth straight CAA win and fifth consecutive overall, improving their record to 4-3 on the road.
Monmouth’s away game record improved to 5-3 after the Hawks played UMass Lowell (12-6) on Sunday, Oct. 30 in their final game of the regular season, ending on a high note with a 3-2 win over the Riverhawks to give Monmouth 10 wins on the year.
Van Lange put Monmouth on the scoreboard just under 12 minutes into the game with her 21st goal of the season, extending her goal streak to six games. The Riverhawks’ Isabelle Halters responded with a goal at the beginning of the second quarter to knot the game up, but van Lange stole back the lead going into halftime with her second goal of the game.
Van Lange completed her fourth hat-trick of the year, scoring her third goal of the game early in the third quarter off of a pass from freshman midfielder Meis Kengen. Kengen is now tied with teammate Bente Steenhorst for the most assists in the CAA, with both Hawks having nine on the season. Van Lange leads the CAA with 23 goals and 50 points and is second in the nation in goals per game, averaging 1.29.
UMass Lowell responded with another goal at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Hazen stood strong in net for the Hawks to keep them ahead of the Riverhawks, facing 33 shots throughout the match and saving nine of the 11 shots on goal to secure a 3-2 win for Monmouth. The freshman goalkeeper is sixth in the nation in save percentage with .795 and eighth in saves per game with 6.47.
Head Coach Carli Figlio has now led the Hawks to 10 or more wins in seven consecutive seasons. Following the conclusion of regular season play, the Hawks will face off against fourth-seeded Drexel in the semifinals of the CAA Championship tournament on Friday, Nov. 4.
