The Monmouth field hockey team came up just short in their bid for a CAA championship, as they lost to the top-seeded Fairfield Stags on Friday.
The Hawks were the No. 2 seed in the tournament, and they started their run by avenging a loss in last year’s CAA championship game to Drexel, beating them in the semifinals 2-1. The Hawks fell behind early after giving up a goal six minutes into the game, but two goals from Claire Campen in the second and fourth quarters respectively gave Monmouth all they needed to advance.
Milla Frye assisted on Campen’s second goal, and the Hawks outshot the Dragons 15-8 in the game. Goalkeeper Charlie Bowman made two saves.
In the championship game, both teams couldn’t find the scoresheet through the first three quarters, thus heading to the final frame deadlocked at zero.
Fairfield broke the ice with ten minutes to go, as Camille Perlov gave the Stags a 1-0 lead. A little over a minute later, she scored again. Leading 2-0, Fairfield looked to cruise to the win. The Hawks didn’t make it easy as Florence van Doorn scored just over a minute later and cut the lead to 2-1. All three goals in the game came within a span of two minutes and 33 seconds of game time. Despite outshooting Fairfield 5-2 in the fourth quarter, the Hawks couldn’t get it done and fell short in the championship game for the second straight year.
Anna Moors got credited with an assist on van Doorn’s goal, and Bowman made two saves in the game.
Despite the loss, the field hockey team had another good season finishing with a respectable 11-7 record. Highlights from the season included a season opening win over a Rutgers team that was ranked at the time, and a win over Penn State on home turf.
Frye led the team with 14 goals this season. She also had 33 points, 19 more than anyone else on the team. Moors and Campen had six goals each. Bowman had a 75% save percentage this season and made a total of 75 saves.
Fairfield finished their regular season with a 12-7 record and two wins over Monmouth. They got an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and play Wagner today in the opening round of the tournament. If they win that game, they will face the No. 2 overall seed in the tournament, Maryland, on Friday.
