Monmouth graduate attacker Lauren Rismani tied a program-record with eight assists in a single game in Monmouth’s 17-12 win over Campbell on Saturday, April 4. She broke the program record for most assists in a season, sitting with 46 total in just 13 games played. She also has a team high 63 points, 18 points higher than the second most on the team.
The win was the first conference win for Monmouth in nearly two years. Their last CAA victory also came against Campbell on April 14, 2024. The Hawks had lost eleven straight conference games prior to Saturday.
Freshman midfielder Olivia Castaldo got the scoring started a little over a minute into the game with her 14th goal of the season. Campbell scored less than a minute later to tie it, but the Hawks scored three straight goals from three different players to end the first quarter. The markers came from freshman midfielder Marlania Grimm, sophomore midfielder Allyson Ryan, and senior attacker Shea Berigan. Rismani tallied her first assist of the game on Berigan’s goal.
Campbell opened the second quarter with two goals in a two-minute span, before graduate attacker Grace Curtin tailed her first goal of the game to extend the Hawks lead back to 5-3. Rismani added assist number two on Curtin’s goal.
Berigan scored her second of the game a little over two minutes after Campbell cut the lead back to 5-4. 45 seconds later, senior attacker Brenna McCafferty scored her first goal of the season on a feed from Rismani to extend Monmouth’s lead to 7-4. Campbell cut the lead to 7-5, before Curtin and Berigan scored to give Monmouth a 9-5 lead heading into halftime. Rismani assisted on both goals, and Berigan’s gave her a first half hat trick.
The Hawks solidified their lead early in the second half, with senior midfielder Brooke Lacey scoring her first and only goal of the game and Berigan scoring her fourth. Rismani’s fifth assist came on Berigan’s goal.
Campbell made it 11-6 a minute and a half after Berigan’s goal, but senior midfielder Sophia Lymberis scored less than a minute later to increase the lead back to six. The teams kept exchanging goals with Campbell cutting it back to 12-7, but the Hawks would knock off two straight with Berigan scoring number five and Rismani added a goal of her own.
Heading into the fourth, Monmouth had a seven goal lead and that margin was too big to overcome for the Fightin’ Camels. Curtin scored two more goals in the fourth, along with Lymberis scoring her second. The final score ended up being 17-12.
Rismani ended with a goal and eight assists for nine points. The nine-point performance was the most by a Hawk in a single game since Caroline Brennan in 2022. Berigan led the team with five goals. Curtin had four, Lymberis had two, and six players had one goal each. The two players to record an assist outside of Rismani were Curtin who had two, and McCafferty who had one. Junior goalkeeper Katie Sullivan had one of her best games of the season, saving 13 of 25 shots on goal for a 52% save percentage. Her performance may have been the difference in the game, as Campbell’s goalkeeper made only six saves on 23 shots for a 26% save percentage.
With the win, Monmouth moves to 1-3 in conference play and moves to within one game of the top four. William & Mary, Elon, and Towson are tied for third in the conference at 2-2 in CAA play. The top four teams in the conference will advance to the CAA Tournament.
The Hawks have a big test this weekend as they will travel to Long Island to take on the Hofstra Pride. Hofstra is 4-0 in CAA play and is tied for first in the conference standings with Stony Brook.
As for Campbell, this loss makes their path to the CAA tournament extremely difficult, as they fell to 0-4 in conference play. They will likely be playing for their season in a matchup against Elon on Friday, April 3.
