Monmouth Field Hockey traveled to Towson, Maryland, on Friday, Oct. 6, to face Towson and walked away with a dominating win of 5-0 to keep their winning streak going. This win for Monmouth marks the fifth time this season they have put up four or more goals in a single game.
This was not the first matchup between Towson and Monmouth. They faced each other in September 2002, and Monmouth left empty handed 0-5. The Hawks and Tigers have faced each other four more times since then and now Monmouth leads the series 4-1.
In the first quarter, no goals were scored on either side. It was not until the 20th minute that New Zealand native Jess Tucker scored her first goal of the game and fourth of the season. A long pass was made from junior Sofia Fouces to Tucker, who was able to take possession of the ball and give Monmouth the lead at halftime.
In the second half, Monmouth dominated offensively with four goals. The first goal came from freshman Lauren Relik when she went head-to-head with the goalkeeper, making a move to get past her. This was Relik’s fourth goal of the season and Tucker’s fourth assist of the season.
The goals kept flowing when graduate senior India Shakespeare brought Monmouth’s lead to three. The pass from Fouces to Shakespeare gave Fouces possession of first in the CAA as far as points with a total of 26.
In the fourth and final quarter of the game, freshman Anna Moors recorded her first goal of her collegiate career with assists from Shakespeare and graduate senior Nora Goddard-Despot. Just two minutes later, Tucker recorded her second goal of the game and fifth of the season to shut Towson down and scored the fifth and final goal of the game for Monmouth.
Monmouth outshot Towson with 31 shots, 18 of them on goal, while Towson had three shots, two of them on goal. Both Monmouth’s defense and offense played significant roles in this game.
This was the sixth game in a row won for the Hawks, but unfortunately, that streak ended when the Hawks faced undefeated No. 6 Rutgers on Oct. 8 in a 2-4 loss.
The match began with two goals from Rutgers, the first off of a steal three minutes into the second quarter, and the second goal came early in the third quarter to make the score 0-2. The Hawks quickly reacted to the Knights’ lead when junior forward Sofia Fouces scored 2:50 after Rutgers’ goal, cutting the deficit from two to one. This was Sofia Fouces’ CAA-leading twelfth goal of the season.
In the final minute of the third quarter, junior Jess Tucker scored her third goal of the weekend and sixth of the season, tying the game 2-2 off of a redirect from Sofia Fouces after a corner.
The fourth quarter was all Knights as they scored two goals to secure their win 2-4. Despite the loss for Monmouth, Argentina native Sofia Fouces continues to excel as she leads the CAA with 12 goals and 29 points. This is Fouces’ fifth game with three or more points. She finished this game with four shots, all of which were on goal.
While Field Hockey faced a loss against Rutgers, the junior forward from New Zealand held her own as she made her third goal of the weekend and sixth of the season to be named CAA player of the week.
Tucker has been at Monmouth her whole collegiate career and has excelled at her skills on the field. Her freshman year, Tucker appeared in 17 games for the Hawks, making six starts and accumulating a total of three goals and seven points in 2021. Her sophomore year as a Hawk, she saw action in 16 games and started 14 of them. She was named all-CAA Second Team and was tied for second on the team in goals scored with five.
Just last weekend, Tucker tallied seven points with three goals and one assist as she led the Hawks to a 1-1 weekend. On Oct. 6 when field hockey faced Towson, Tucker posted a career-high five points with two goals and one assist in a 5-0 win. Tucker is fourth in the CAA with 16 points, which is a new career high, and is tied for fifth in the conference with six goals.
With three more CAA games remaining, The Hawks look to face Northeastern on Oct. 13 at home.
