Monmouth Women’s Lacrosse dropped their third conference game of the season to William & Mary on Saturday, Mar. 28.
Despite opening a 3-0 lead, William & Mary responded quickly, taking control of the game and hanging on for a 13-10 victory.
Since Kessler Stadium was hosting a track meet, this game was played on Hesse Field. The scoring started a little under halfway through the first quarter, with freshman midfielder Olivia Castaldo giving the Hawks a 1-0 lead. Two and a half minutes later, she scored again to open up the lead to 2-0.
With three and a half minutes remaining in the first quarter, graduate attacker Grace Curtin opened up the Hawks lead to 3-0. That was all of the scores in the first quarter controlled by the Hawks. Despite the score, shots were even at eight apiece, although six of Monmouth’s shots reached the goal compared to William & Mary’s three.
The Tribe quickly bounced back in the second quarter, scored five unanswered goals over the first 11 and a half minutes of the frame to take a 5-3 lead. Following those five goals, Curtin took matters into her own hands and scored three goals in a three minute span to end the second quarter. Her efforts gave Monmouth a 6-5 lead at halftime.
The third quarter was where William & Mary took full control of the game. They outscored the Hawks 4-1 in the frame, and outshot them 9-2. Monmouth’s lone goal of the quarter was scored by senior midfielder Sophia Lymberis.
With a 9-7 lead entering the fourth, the Tribe added two more goals to earn their largest lead of the game. Monmouth cut the deficit back to two with goals from senior attacker Shea Berigan and freshman midfielder Marlania Grimm, but that was the closest they would get. William & Mary responded with two goals of their own to increase their lead back to four, and despite a late goal from graduate attacker Lauren Rismani, William & Mary hung on for a 13-10 win.
This game was all about momentum. Monmouth started with three goals in a row, followed by five straight William & Mary goals. Monmouth then got another three goals in a row, which was then followed up by the Tribe scoring six of the next seven goals. William & Mary’s goal runs were stronger than Monmouth’s, and in the end that’s what propelled them to victory.
Curtin led the Hawks in scoring with four goals. Rismani was right behind her with a goal and two assists. Castaldo had two goals, and Grimm had a goal and an assist. Berigan, the Hawks leading goal-scorer this season, was only held to one goal, along with Lymberis. Senior attacker Brenna McCafferty added an assist.
With the loss, the Hawks are now 0-3 in CAA play, despite having a 7-5 overall record. In order to make the CAA Tournament, Monmouth likely cannot afford another loss in conference play. Their next game is on Saturday, Apr. 4, at home against a Campbell team who, like Monmouth, are 0-3 in CAA play despite having a position record overall, as they sit at 9-4 on the season.
As for William & Mary, they sit at 7-4 overall and are tied with Towson for third place in the CAA standings with a 2-1 conference record. Their next game is also on Apr. 4 on the road against the Elon Phoenix.
