BROOKLYN, N.Y. - The Monmouth University women's soccer team fell to No. 2 seed Central Connecticut State, 2-0, on Friday afternoon, in the second Northeast Conference semifinal. With the loss, Monmouth's season comes to a close with a 14-4-1 overall record.
"Overall, I thought we were a bit unlucky in the first half, to go down to goals," said head coach Krissy Turner. "We held a lot of possession in the half, but gave up two counterattacks that resulted in scores."
Monmouth had an opportunity to go ahead with 38:03 remaining in the first, after a give-and-go between Joanna DeMoor and Illiana Blackshear resulted in a penalty kick for the Hawks, when DeMoor was pulled down in the box. Junior Andrea Lopez stepped to the spot and fired a shot to her left, but was stoned by All-NEC goalkeeper Erin Herd.
Less than 10 minutes of action later, CCSU responded with a break-away goal at 16:04 by Rachel Caneen. Caneen, a second-team all-league forward, notched her second score of the half just 2:07 later, beating Lia Fierro on another break, off a feed from Beth Lloyd.
The Hawks had a chance to trim the score in half, with 24:39 showing, but Lopez was denied by Herd once again, this time on a break, after a feed from DeMoor.
Monmouth held a 13-10 advantage in shots in the match, and a 7-5 edge in corner kick opportunities.
"We had a terrific season and should not judge our season on today's result," added Turner. "We will miss our eight senior, both on and off the field as they were great representatives of what Monmouth women's soccer stands for."
Herd made five saves in goal for CCSU, which advances to play top-seed Long Island on Sunday, in the NEC Championship Game, while Fierro made five saves for the Hawks.
