On Friday, Oct. 10, Monmouth Field Hockey took down the Drexel Dragons in an overtime battle on So Sweet a Cat Field. The Dragons were on the board with a goal from senior midfielder and forward Natali Foster just 1:37 into the game. The goal was assisted by junior forward and midfielder Valentine Van Hellem and junior forward and midfielder Pili Lemoine, Freshman defender Florence Van Doorn tied it for the Hawks just under seven minutes into the second quarter, assisted by sophomore midfielder Lilly Ricks, and junior defender Eulalie Browers.
Monmouth pulled ahead just over five minutes into the third quarter when sophomore midfielder Milla Frye scored on a goal assisted by sophomore forward Stella Goddard-Despo. Almost six minutes later, the Dragons came back to even the score with a goal from freshman forward and midfielder Fleur Hamers, assisted by Lemoine. The game was tied at two apiece for the duration of the third and through the fourth quarter.
Overtime did not last long as junior midfielder Lauren Relik scored the game winner and was assisted by Van Doorn and Ricks to protect the Hawks’ perfect record in CAA play. The Hawks’ next match-up was supposed to have been against the Columbia Lions on Sunday, Oct. 12, but the game was canceled due to extreme weather.
Monmouth played again this past Friday down in Williamsburg, Virginia where they took down yet another CAA opponent, William & Mary, to keep their perfect record in conference play. The Hawks shut out the Tribe in their victory, scoring four of their own goals. It was sophomore midfielder Keely Bowers that started the scoring. Bowers’ goal was assisted by Browers and graduate defender Luisa Schlueter. Senior forward Emily Singer followed up with an unassisted goal just over four minutes later. At the end of the third quarter, it was Claire Campen’s turn. Her ninth goal of the season came on an assist from Ricks. Singer got her fourth of the season following that with an assist from freshman midfielder Alicia Vanderlyde.
The Monmouth offense put up a dazzling performance, getting 29 shots off and earning 11 penalty corners. However, the defense also made a statement. Charlie Bowman managed to stay attentive despite William & Mary only getting off nine shots; the sophomore goalkeeper made 6 saves on the day. The 4-0 victory over the Tribe put the Hawks at 3-0 in CAA play.
Bowman continued to show her skill on Sunday when the Hawks traveled to Bedford Field to take on the No. 6 ranked Princeton Tigers. Monmouth was the underdog coming into the top 15 match-up, with them being ranked No. 13. Still, Bowman played a tough defensive 60 minutes. The Tigers were able to get an astounding 30 shots off, with 20 of them being on goal. Bowman made 15 saves on the day and faced 13 corner opportunities from the Tigers. The Hawks fell short, losing to the Tigers with a final score of 6-1. On the offensive side of the game, Monmouth’s only goal was assisted by freshman midfielder Maia McCourt and redirected by Relik with just over nine minutes remaining on the game clock. Monmouth was still able to generate five corner opportunities for themselves despite playing such a tough Princeton defense.
The Hawks play their penultimate game this Friday at 3pm when they head down to Maryland to take on the Towson Tigers for another CAA matchup and look to protect their undefeated in-conference record. The last game of Monmouth’s regular season is at 3 p.m. on Halloween for one last conference game as they host Northeastern on So Sweet a Cat Field. That game can be caught on FloSports.
