HAMDEN, Conn.- Monmouth women's lacrosse team found itself down 3-0 halfway through the first half of Saturday's Northeast Conference tilt against Quinnipiac but battled back to win the contest by a 11-10 mark.
Two times the Hawks went on three goal unanswered streaks, once to tie the game in the first half and once to take the lead for good midway through the second half. Freshman Rachel Feirstein (St. James, N.Y./Smithtown East) led the Hawks with four goals on the day, while senior Jessica Picciuto (North Caldwell, N.J./West Essex Regional) led the defensive effort for the Hawks with four ground balls and three turnovers to compliment her first goal of the season.
It took almost six minutes of action before the first goal of the game was scored when Quinnipiac's Ashley Valentine scored on a free position shot at the 24:07 mark. Four minutes later Kelly Bruneau gave the Bobcats a 2-0 lead on a shot that got back MU goaltender Monica Johnson (Radnor, Pa./Archbishop Carroll). Despite Johnson turning away a number of free position shots Quinnipiac's lead eventually grew to 3-0 when Nicole Fiore netted her first goal of the game with 14:03 left to play in the first frame. Monmouth got on the board less than a minute later with an unassisted Feirstein goal. Over the next five minutes Monmouth recorded three unanswered goals, two from the stick of senior captain Megan Nutter (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) and another from Feirstein, to take a 4-3 lead. Quinnipiac's Lyndsey Banach scored the equalizer with 5:52 left in the half sending the teams into halftime tied 4-4.
After Fiore regained the lead for the Bobcats at the 28:27 mark of the second half, but Picciuto tied the game 90 seconds later with her first goal of the season. Sophomore Megan Brennan's (King of Prussia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) goal gave the Hawks a 6-5 advantage but Banach tied the game for the fourth time with 18:50 left to play in regulation. A three goal outburst gave Monmouth a 9-6 lead followed, one they would never relinquish. Feirstein got the ball rolling at the 16:57 mark on a free position shot with Nutter scoring the eighth goal for Monmouth forty seconds later. Ali Pollock's (Watervliet, N.Y./Shaker) unassisted tally with 15:14 to play finished the run before Quinnipiac scored a pair of goals 26 seconds apart to get to within one. Feirstein and Perry DeWitt (Malvern, Pa./Great Valley) tallied goals to finish the scoring for the Hawks but there was over eight minutes left for a QU comeback attempt. The Bobcats got to within two Valentine's third goal of the game with 4:41 to play which Tiffany Manzi followed up with her first goal less than 20 seconds later. The Hawks were able to stave off the comeback to hold on for the one-goal victory.
Feirstein led all scorers with four goals, while Nutter added three to her team-leading totals. The senior tri-captain also had three ground balls and two caused turnovers in the game. Johnson had 12 saves as Monmouth outshot QU by a 31-26 margin. Hannah Nelson had 11 saves in net for the Bobcats. Valentine and Fiore had three goals apiece in the loss, while Banach finished with two.
Quinnipiac falls to 2-4 (0-1 NEC) on the season while Monmouth improves to 5-3 (1-1 NEC) with the victory. The Hawks will face conference foe Central Connecticut State at home on Friday. Gametime is slated for 4 p.m.
