Monmouth Field Hockey had a home turf shutout against William and Mary on Friday, Oct. 16. The win secured the Hawks’ spot in the CAAplayoffs, clinching their 13th straight postseason appearance. It was also Monmouth’s fourth straight CAA win. Prior to the start of the first, Monmouth honored their senior class, which included defender Audrey Mullen, midfielder Luisa Schueter, forward Lauren Relik, defender Eulalie Brouwers, defender Anna Moors, forward Ava Zefrass, and midfielder Hannah Tromble. The seven have had a key role in the team’s success over the past four years, including helping the team reach the highest ranking in program history, No. 11 in the NFHCA poll last season.
“We have a really large class that’s exciting, and so obviously, the four years that they put in, the trajectory of when they were little baby freshmen to now, we’re in a completely different position, and so it has everything to do with the hard work they put in. They are the foundation. So to do this on senior day is really important,” said Hawks Head Coach Carli Figlio.
It was a sunny day on the turf and both teams came out with intensity. The Hawks stepped up to defend the corner that William and Mary secured in the first three minutes of the game, leaving the Tribe unsuccessful with their attempt to score. Monmouth had two shots on goal but were unlucky finding the net, finishing the first quarter 0-0.
There was a big change of momentum in the second quarter for the Hawks. Freshman Maja Schröder earned the first goal of the day and her second goal of the season, in a 1-v-1 with Tribe goalie Emma Cari in the 21st minute of the game.
The Hawks kept the momentum going into the third quarter. Moors scored on a penalty corner inserted by Relik to Schlueter, who set Moors up for her shot. This locked in Moors’ fifth goal of the season and put the Hawks ahead 2-0.
Less than two minutes later, Milla Frye took the ball along the baseline and sent Stella Goddard-Despot a pass, which set her up to score, and brought the Hawks to a 3-0 lead. It was also Goddard-Despot’s fifth of the season.
Monmouth added on to its cushion two minutes into the fourth quarter as they earned another penalty corner. Defender Olivia Oliver secured the first goal of her career, assisted by Mullen, and Schröder. This bumped the Hawks’ lead to 4-0.
Frye topped off the electric day with an exciting chip shot goal that flew over William and Mary goalie Alexandra de Jesus finalizing the 5-0 shutout. Frye continues to lead the team with 12 goals this year.
Monmouth outshot William and Mary finishing with 19 shots, 13 being on goal. This win brought the Hawks to 4-0 in the CAA and 9-3 overall.
With four regular season games remaining at that point, the Hawks played the University of Virginia on Sunday, Oct. 18th to take on the No. 19 ranked Cavaliers.
“It’s just crazy, looking back all these years that were seniors now… I think it was a team win. We’ve changed so much, saw each other grow up and become adults, so it’s just really nice to see,” said Moors.
