Monmouth Women’s Lacrosse used a fourth quarter surge to defeat Merrimack 13-10 in its season opener on Friday, Feb. 6.
The Hawks trailed 10-8 in the fourth quarter before scoring five straight goals to take the victory. The comeback was led by senior attacker Shea Berigan, who scored the game-tying and game-winning markers. Berigan, the Hawks leading goal-scorer from last season, scored a total of four goals in the game.
After giving up the first two goals to fall down 2-0, graduate attacker Grace Curtin got the Hawks on the board a little over halfway through the first quarter. Less than 30 seconds later, freshman midfielder Marlania Grimm scored in her collegiate debut to tie the game at two apiece.
To start the second quarter, Berigan scored her first of the game to give Monmouth its first lead. Merrimack quickly responded with two goals to take the lead back. The back-and-forth continued as Monmouth added two goals of their own, coming from sophomore midfielder Paige Kidd and graduate attacker Lauren Rismani. Kidd’s goal was the first of her collegiate career, and Rismani’s was her first as a Hawk after she transferred from the University of Oregon. Merrimack would add one more goal before halftime, evening the score at five heading into the locker room.
To start the second half, Merrimack took a 6-5 lead less than a minute in. Curtin responded with her second of the game to even the scoring. Monmouth then scored two goals within a minute of each other to take its largest lead of the game, with Berigan scoring one and senior midfielder Sophia Lymberis scoring the other.
The lead for Monmouth did not last, as Merrimack scored four straight goals between the end of the third and beginning of the fourth quarters to take a 10-8 lead. To that point, that was the largest scoring run of the game. The Hawks were about to one-up that.
With a little less than 11 minutes remaining in the game, Rismani scored her second to cut the lead to one. 31 seconds later, Berigan scored the game-tying goal. Both teams were deadlocked at ten for a little under six minutes, until Berigan broke the ice and gave Monmouth an 11-10 lead. Insurance goals from senior midfielder Brooke Lacy and senior defender Gen Mullervy propelled the Hawks to a three-goal victory.
Berigan led the Hawks in scoring with four goals and two assists for six points. She was named CAA Offensive Player of the week for her performance. Rismani was right behind her, with two goals and three assists for five points. Curtin had two goals and an assist for three points, and Lacy scored two points with a goal and an assist in her Hawks debut. Lacy is a transfer from Saint Francis, where she was named to the All-NEC First Team in the 2025 season. Mullervy, Grimm, Kidd, and Lymberis each had one goal, while freshman midfielder Olivia Castaldo scored her first collegiate point with an assist in her debut.
Junior goalkeeper Katie Sullivan returned to the net for the Hawks, and she put in an impressive opening day performance, saving 57% of the shots that reached the goal.
The two teams played a very evenly matched game. Monmouth outshot Merrimack 34-31, with 59% of Monmouth’s shots reaching the goal compared to Merrimack’s 68%. Both teams were very close in turnovers and ground balls. Merrimack had two more turnovers than Monmouth did, while also only having four more ground balls. The Warriors also had 16 draw controls compared to Monmouth’s ten. The difference in the game was the fourth quarter. Monmouth outshot Merrimack 9-4 in the frame, while also having less turnovers.
The Hawks will look to continue their momentum from the season opener in their home opener against La Salle on Wednesday, Feb. 11. On Tuesday morning, it was announced the Kessler Stadium stands will be closed to fans due to snow and ice. If fans want to attend the game, they have to go to a standing-room only area.
