The Monmouth Women’s Soccer took two victories in conference play against Drexel on Thursday and Hofstra on Sunday.
On Oct. 2, the Hawks traveled to Philadelphia to take on the Drexel Dragons. The first half was fairly even with good defense on both sides. Both teams failed to score despite a combined 13 shot attempts. Sophomore goalkeeper Sammy Widnick made five saves for Drexel.
A little over four minutes into the second half, Monmouth’s junior midfielder Chloe Messer scored her first goal of the season to break the ice and give Monmouth a 1-0 lead. Junior forward Lohren Gehret assisted on Messer’s goal. The Hawks Defense held strong for the final 40 minutes of the game and held on for a 1-0 victory. Graduate goalkeeper Tallulah Miller made four saves and earned the shutout. The win propelled Monmouth to 7-4-1 on the season, while Drexel dropped to 2-3-8. The Dragons only have one win in their last 11 matches.
On Sunday, Oct. 5, the Hawks returned home to take on the Hofstra Pride trying to extend their two-game winning streak. Unlike Thursday’s game, the scoring in this one got started quickly, as in the seventh minute, Hofstra would get on the board with a goal by senior midfielder Manon Lebargy. Despite outshooting the Pride 9-6 in the first half, Monmouth went into the locker room trailing 1-0.
Monmouth took control of the game in the second half. In the 70th minute, junior midfielder Emily De Almeida tied the game at one. Her goal was assisted by senior forward Summer Reimet.
The game remained tied until the 88th minute, with Messer coming up clutch for Monmouth once again, scoring her second goal of the season and delivering Monmouth a 2-1 lead with a little over two minutes left to play.
Messer’s goal was enough to give Monmouth a 2-1 victory over the Pride after outshooting them 14-4 in the second half. Messer scored her second consecutive game winning goal, and Miller made an additional four saves in the victory. She was given CAA Defensive Player of the Week honors for her performance in Monmouth’s two victories.
The win over Hofstra extended Monmouth’s winning streak to three, and they now sit at 3-2-0 in CAA play after starting 0-2-0. The Hawks are currently placed second in the CAA’s North division, with defending conference champion Stony Brook being the only team ahead of them.
The Hawks now get a full week off before their next game on Sunday, Oct. 12, where they will take on the Towson Tigers at Tiger Field. Hofstra also gets the full week off before hosting Drexel.
