WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. ? The Monmouth University field hockey team dropped their second straight Northeast Conference match 4-1 to Lock Haven on Sunday afternoon at So Sweet A Cat field. The loss drops Monmouth's season record to 4-9 and 3-2 in the league, while Lock Haven improves to 11-5 and 6-0 in the NEC.

The game was tightly contested in the first half as Monmouth's defense and goalie, Melissa Katz (Tinton Falls, N.J./Monmouth Regional), withstood Lock Haven's offensive attack to only trail 1-0 at intermission. The only goal of the first half came when Lock Haven's Amy Hordendorf slipped a reverse stick shot past Katz off an assist from Sam Stoyer with just over six minutes to go before halftime. Lock Haven outshot Monmouth 12-2 in the first half, as Katz made four saves in goal.

The second half opened with Hordendorf scoring on a breakaway three minutes in, and she added her third tally two minutes later when teammate Blair Wynne crossed the ball to her in the circle and she scored to increase their lead to 3-0 at the 40:57 mark. Wynne added a goal of her own at the 62:05 mark.

Monmouth's tally came when Kelly Crist (Belford, N.J./Middletown North) followed home a rebound off a shot from teammate Annie LoPresti (Middletown, N.J./Middletown North) for her team-leading fifth goal of the year at the 64:31 mark.

For the game, the Eagles outshot Monmouth 19-6 and held a 10-6 advantage on penalty corner opportunities. Katz finished with six saves for Monmouth, while Lock Haven's Erin Terreson started in goal and collected the win, making two saves, before giving way to Ali Harris late in the second half. LoPresti added her second defensive save of the season in the second half.

Monmouth returns to action this Friday, October 19 when they host Rider at 4:00 p.m.