FAIRFIELD, Conn.- Monmouth University's women's lacrosse team dropped its 2008 Northeast Conference Opener to Sacred Heart, losing 12-9 on Thursday to the Pioneers.
Sacred Heart used a pair of three-goal runs in the first half to take a four goal advantage into halftime, with the margin proving too much for the Hawks to overcome.
Offense dominated the early parts of the second half after Monmouth found itself down by a 7-3 margin at halftime. After a Katie Salamone goal gave the Pioneers a five goal lead, MU sophomore Perry DeWitt (Malvern, Pa./Great Valley) scored on a free position attempt to cut the lead back to four. After Salamone won the draw, Carissa Hauser scored her third goal of the game and SHU led 9-4 with 27 minutes to play in regulation. Monmouth freshman Carissa Franzi (Fairfield, N.J./West Essex) secured the following draw and the Hawks marched right down scoring quickly on a Rachel Feirstein (St. James, N.Y./Smithtown East) shot. Less than a minute later, at the 26:25 mark, sophomore Ali Pollock (Watervliet, N.Y./Shaker) scored her first goal of the game and the MU deficit rested at 9-6.
Sacred Heart countered by scoring back-to-back goals inside a minute, one from Amanda Williams and one from Liz Ottey. MU senior Megan Nutter (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) got on the board with less than 19 minutes to play with an unassisted goal that cut the Sacred Heart lead to 11-7. DeWitt scored her second goal of the game with just over eight minutes to play but Williams notched another SHU goal at the 5:53 mark to keep Monmouth four goals away from tying the match. Nutter's goal with 1:27 made the score 12-9 but there was not enough time remaining for a Hawk comeback attempt.
Sacred Heart got on the board first at the 22:42 mark of the first half on Hauser's first goal. The Pioneers then rattled off two more unanswered goals to take a 3-0 lead with 20 minutes to play. Monmouth's Megan Brennan (King of Prussia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) cut the lead to two in the 18th minute but two minutes later Hauser tallied her second goal of the game to restore SHU's 4-1 lead. Senior Liz Ottey notched her second goal of the contest with 13:39 left in the first frame and the Hawks trailed by a 5-1 margin.
Monmouth's offense continued to apply pressure, taking nine shots in 19 minutes of work but Pioneer goaltender Chelsea Wagner was able to turn all but one away. Sacred Heart's Megan McCaffrey added a goal to push the lead to 6-1 before Brennan struck again with 9:07 left in the first frame. Just over a minute later the former NEC Rookie of the Year tallied her third goal of the game, this time with an assist from Pollock. With 2:44 left in the first half McCaffrey scored her second goal and Sacred Heart took a 7-3 lead into halftime.
Brennan led the Hawks with three goals in the contests while Nutter and DeWitt chipped in two goals each. Pollock had two points with a goal and an assist, adding two ground balls and three caused turnovers to her career totals.
Hauser led all scorers with four points (3g-1a), while Salamone and Ottey had three points each. Junior Mary Montesarchio finished with four assists on the afternoon.
Wagner finished with 12 saves in net for SHU, while MU goaltender Monica Johnson (Radnor, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) had eight saves in 60 minutes of work. Each team tallied 27 shots in the contest. Monmouth falls to 4-3 overall (0-1 NEC) with the loss while the Pioneers improve to 3-5 (1-0 NEC).
The Hawks will look to snap their two-game losing streak against Quinnipiac on Saturday. The match is slated for a 12 p.m. start.
