With a thrilling overtime win, Monmouth University’s women’s lacrosse team earned their second-ever CAA win, emerging victorious in a 17-16 barnburner.
After a devastating overtime loss against Delaware the week before, the Hawks straightened their backs, learned their lesson and sought to get back into the win column. Monmouth hosted the Hofstra Pride on Saturday, April 1, for a sunny afternoon contest at Kessler Stadium.
The Hawks started the game off strong and outscored the Pride 7-4 in the first frame. Hofstra scored the first goal of the game with 13:53 on the clock, but Coach Jordan Trautman’s girls took the lead at 10:22, thanks to a tally by senior hat-trick hero Maddie Murphy and kept that lead for the rest of the quarter. Murphy’s second goal was a timely one, getting Mya Brock an assist on a last-second goal to close the opening quarter.
Monmouth maintained their level from the first quarter and added two more goals in the early stage of the second period, extending their lead to 9-4 with 12:03 on the clock. The Pride bounced back and put a hold on Monmouth’s dominance, racing back to make it a one-score game and ending the quarter at a score of 10-9 in favor of the Hawks.
Monmouth goalkeeper Gia Mitchell was left with plenty of work in goal as the Pride fired 20 shots towards her goal through the first half. The Hawks were unable to keep the visitors from Long Island at bay much longer, as Hofstra found the equaliser with 09:41 left in the third quarter. The scoreboard remained fixed at a score of 10-10 until Monmouth’s Shea Berigan scored her 17th goal of the season to put the Hawks ahead of Hofstra once again. The third quarter ended with a score of 12-10 to Monmouth after Danielle McNeely scored the final goal of the quarter with just over a minute left to play.
Thanks to a fantastic assist from Berigan, Carli Mangum put the Hawks up 13-10 after opening Monmouth’s account for the fourth quarter. The Monmouth players continued to play well together and were structurally well-organized, but were unable to keep the Hofstra Pride from scoring. Katie Kelly tied the game at 14 for Hofstra with a little under 9 minutes left in the game.
The visitors were determined to keep pushing through the last whistle, and managed to take the lead through Taylor Mennella with a little under four minutes left to play. Shortly after, Monmouth flexed their resolve and character as junior Ella Spears, who completed her first-career hat-trick alongside Maddie Murphy, tied the game at 15 with 2:20 remaining. Hofstra’s Kerry Walser slipped through the Monmouth defense and placed her shot past Gia Mitchell, putting the visitors ahead with just over a minute left in the contest.
With 15 seconds left on the game clock, Hofstra defender Emily Weigand received a yellow card and the Hawks took full advantage of her back-breaking error. Within three seconds of the card being awarded, Shea Berigan converted a free position attempt to tie the game at 16.
With the game knotted at 16, Monmouth headed into overtime for the second straight week. After winning the opening draw Hofstra, were awarded a free position attempt after a Monmouth foul. Were the Hawks going to get the short end of the stick again after last week’s overtime loss? Nope!
The Pride failed to score on their free position attempt, as the shooter moved too early in the umpire’s eyes, and the would-be goal was called back. The Hawks regained their focus, established possession, and quickly shuttled the ball back to the other end of the field. Grad student Cassidy Orban took care of the rest, scoring her 26th goal of the season and sending Hofstra home with a 17-16 loss.
Monmouth head coach Jordan Trautman was bursting with joy after the win, remarking “I am so proud of this whole team! It was such a fun day of college lacrosse with so many exciting big plays at the right moment. The last few weeks, the vibes of this team have been incredible, and I’m thrilled for this group that they earned this win after all the hard work and energy they have put into making this a special team.”
With this win, the Hawks moved to an 8-5 record, while being 2-1 in CAA play. Hofstra left the Jersey Shore disappointed and returned to Long Island with a 3-9 overall record, whilst sitting at 0-3 in CAA play. The Hawks will resume CAA play on Friday, April 7 when they host the No. 6 Stony Brook Seawolves for an afternoon match-up at 1 p.m. at Kessler Stadium.
