LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. ? Senior Molly Passarella (Atco, N.J./Hammonton) put the Monmouth field hockey team up early, but they couldn't hold on as the Hawks dropped a close, double overtime 2-1 game to Siena on Sunday afternoon at Loudonville, N.Y. After a successful back-to-back winning home stand, the Blue and White have now dropped back-to-back road losses to NEC foes.
The Hawks put the pressure on Siena early when Passarella beat two defenders, sending in a deep shot past Saint's goalie Renee Clavette to put Monmouth up 1-0 just nine minutes into the first half. The Blue and White were relentless in the first half, putting up 17 shots with 10 corners in the half.
The score remained the same until nine minutes into the second half when Siena answered with a finish by Kristin McGorty to tie the game, forcing overtime.
In overtime, the Hawks and Saints went back and forth in play, as the Saints registered a 3-2 shot advantage in the extra period. Despite their efforts, the game was forced into a double overtime and ended four minutes into double overtime when the Saints' Caroline Hunnewell smacked in a corner rebound to end the game in favor of Siena.
Playing in 100 minutes of action, Monmouth goalie Melissa Katz (Tinton Falls, N.J./Monmouth Regional) registered six saves on the day, pushing her season total to 106 saves on the season ? almost double her saves from last season.
Passarella's passionate play had once again lead the Hawks, as she registered a game-high seven shots on goal. Several other Monmouth players got in on the action with shots, including junior defender Sarah Keppel (Northampton, Pa./Northampton) with two shots on the afternoon.
Monmouth held the shot advantage on the afternoon, 27-15 and the corner advantage, 20-10, with both being season-highs for the Hawks.
The Blue and White are now 3-14 on the season and 2-4 in the NEC as Siena moves to 1-14 on the season and 1-5 in the conference.
Coach Carli Figlio's crew will return to action for the last NEC match of 2008, as they travel to Lawrenceville, N.J. this Friday, October 31st, for a 4:00 p.m. game with Rider.
