Monmouth Field Hockey had a CAA road shutout, beating Hofstra 4-0 on Friday, Sept. 25. Senior Anna Moors led the Hawks with two goals to secure the win at Cindy Lewis Stadium. Moors made her comeback against the Pride on Friday afternoon, after suffering a season-ending knee injury against Hofstra last season. After battling through the setbacks, she returned to the field and delivered a statement performance, creating a full-circle moment.
The Pride came out strong in the first quarter, but goal keeper Charlie Bowman responded with two saves to set the Hawks up defensively for the shutout.
Junior Stella Goddard-Despot put the Hawks on the board in the second quarter. In the 21st minute she earned the first goal of the game and her fourth of the season. Shortly after Moors stepped up and doubled the lead with her first goal, which was assisted by senior Audrey Mullen and senior Lauren Relik. With seven minutes to play in the half, Relik passed the ball to Mullen on a penalty corner. The former All-CAA and All-Region pick drove the ball straight into the cage and helped bring the score to 2-0.
Monmouth continued to dominate midway through the third quarter. Junior Milla Frye added to the Hawks lead with her tenth goal of the season assisted by graduate student Luisa Schlueter and sophomore Alicia Vanderlyde. Frye’s goal set the Hawks up to 3-0 and she continues to lead the team offensively with the most goals of the season.
The Hawks had back to back penalty corners toward the end of the third quarter. On the first corner Vanderlyde’s shot was blocked. The Hawks clutched up on the second corner when Moors locked in her second goal of the evening in the final minute of the quarter. She was assisted by Schuleter and Relik.
In the final quarter Monmouth continued to put the pressure on offensively but were not able to secure another goal. The defense remained strong and kept the Pride to zip on the score board.
The Hawks were the dominant team offensively and outshot Hofstra 21-5, and landed five penalty corners while the Pride had one. They finished the game with a 4-0 victory.
Bowman made two saves against the Pride in the first half, and was replaced by Djoeke van Helsdingen who closed out the last 30 minutes of the game for Monmouth.
The Hawks Field Hockey team earned their sixth straight win this season and currently stand at 2-0 in the CAA, while the Pride fell to 2-6 and 0-2 in conference play. This win sets them up at No. 18 in the country according to the NFHCA rankings. The Hawks will head to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to take on the Drexel Dragons on Friday, Oct. 2.
