As the Monmouth University men’s soccer team entered their 13th week of regular-season play, the team traveled to New York, where Stony Brook hosted the Hawks. This was the Hawks’ second straight away game.
Coming off two straight ties, one with Drexel and the other with Northeastern. Both final scores were 1-1. The Hawks and Seawolves started off strong in the first half at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 18. The game started off with a save from freshman goalkeeper Herman Johnsen in the first three minutes. However, momentum shifted quickly, as the Seawolves were able to find the back of the net within the first nine minutes. With shots on goal from senior midfielder Patrick Osiecki and senior forward Jakob Friedman thirty minutes into the match, it was with the assist of the junior forward Javi Losa and junior defender Raul Garcia that led to Friedman tying the game 1-1 in the 34th minute. This was Friedman’s third straight game where he has scored. With a few saves in the first half from Johnsen, both teams battled for possession on the field, which led to a tie heading into the half.
With the battle evenly matched, the second half was equally thrilling, starting with Johnsen’s big save in the 54th minute. Stony Brook was awarded a penalty kick, which was saved, and in the same minute, a shot on goal by Friedman was caught by Seawolves’ goalkeeper Heidar Hermannsson. As the energy on the field continued to grow through the second half, Stony Brook was able to find the back of the net in the 71st minute, giving them a 2-1 lead. With the last pair of shots coming from Osiecki and senior midfielder Sean Cadigan, Monmouth was unable to tie, and Stony Brook won 2-1.
It was the Hawks and Seawolves’ second meeting of the season and their sixth match all-time. The Hawks lead 2-1-3 in the all-time match-up. With four goals and eight assists this season, Friedman has 16 points. Since former Hawk Ben Zakowski scored 25 points in 2023, Friedman’s 16 points are the most by a Hawk. Losa recorded his third assist of the season, tying him with Osiecki for second place in assists for the Hawks. In this game, Garcia recorded his first assist as a Hawk. Johnsen has now made seven or more saves in consecutive games.
Jumping back to the game the week prior, the Hawks traveled to Boston, Massachusetts, where they played Northeastern at Parsons Field. This intense match started with a back-and-forth battle between the two teams. With a few shots on goal that Johnsen was able to save, Friedman attempted two shots on goal in the 16th and 17th minutes, both of which were saved by Huskies’ goalkeeper Tobias Jahn. As the two teams continued to battle it out on the field, at the 44th minute with 32 seconds left in the first, the Huskies scored a goal, and they took the 1-0 lead into the half.
As the Hawks entered the second half, Johnsen made two big saves in the 50th and 53rd minutes. With three major shots on goal by the sophomore forward Victor Andersson, Osiecki, and Losa, the Hawks had yet to find the back of the Huskies’ net. With Johnsen’s major saves to keep the deficit to one as the clock approached 90 minutes, with 21 seconds left, Friedman scored, bringing the game to a 1-1 tie. The goal came after junior midfielder Ian Brunet found Friedman, who dribbled the ball across the box and rocked the goal in the top left corner of the net.
This was the second time the two teams met this season, with it being their fourth meeting overall. Monmouth with a 2-1-1 record and is leading the series against the Huskies. Johnsen was also awarded CAA Rookie of the Week for the week of Oct. 6th-12th.
On Tuesday, Oct. 21, at 7 p.m., the Hawks will host St. John’s at Hesse Field on The Great Lawn. This match will be broadcast on FloCollege with the option to watch in English or Spanish.
