WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. - Redshirt senior Enza Mazza (Oceanport, N.J./Shore Regional) posted her first career hat trick in leading the Monmouth University field hockey team to a 4-0 victory over Northeast Conference foe, Sacred Heart, on Sunday afternoon at So Sweet A Cat Field. Mazza's scoring outburst helped the Hawks to move to 7-7 on the season, and 3-1 in NEC play, while the visiting Pioneers fell to 1-11 overall and 0-2 in conference action.
"We are really excited to see this performance from {Enza}, especially during NEC play," Said Head Coach Carli Figlio. "It was great to see her get her first career hat trick, especially during her last season."
The Hawks used a balanced offensive attack, with seven different players recording at least one shot on goal, along with another solid effort on defense.
Opening up scoring for the Hawks was sophomore Ashley McPeek (Hazlet, N.J./St. John Vianney) who immerged from a pack of players just outside of the goal to smash a low shot past Sacred Heart goalie, Kim Stow, twelve minutes into play to give the Hawks a 1-0 advantage early. Junior Meredith Violi (Stroudsburg, Pa./Stroudsburg) assisted to McPeek on the play, pushing her season total to four assists, second best on the team.
Eighteen minutes later, Mazza posted the first of her three goals in the game on a give-and-go from freshman Michelle Pieczynski (Doylestown, Pa./Central Buck West) to give the Hawks a two goal lead going into halftime.
Mazza added an unassisted goal five minutes into the second half on a hard shot from the left side of the net, five yards inside of the arc, to push the score to 3-0 in Monmouth's favor. Finishing up her career afternoon with just 12 minutes to play, the veteran flicked a pass from McPeek past Stow's left side to solidify the 4-0 win for the Hawks.
MU junior goalie Melissa Katz (Tinton Falls, N.J./Monmouth Regional) posted her third career shutout, her second of this season, with two saves on the afternoon to lead the Hawks defensively.
The Hawks were led by Mazza's nine shots, followed by Pieczynski with three. McPeek, junior Nora Bosmans (Oakhurst, N.J./Ocean Township), junior Morganne Firmstone (Honesdale, Pa./Honesdale), senior Sarah Keppel (Northampton, Pa./Northampton) and junior Katelyn Buckley (Westampton, N.J./Rancocas Valley) each posted a shot on goal for MU as well. Four different Hawks posted points on the afternoon including multi-point games by Mazza (three goals) and McPeek (goal and assist).
Monmouth held the shooting advantage over Sacred Heart, 17-11, while splitting the penalty corner advantage, 5-5.
With her six points on the afternoon, Mazza rose to third place all-time in the MU record book with 37 career points. She is also fourth in goals and sixth in assists all-time at Monmouth.
The Hawks will take to the road this weekend for their last non-conference matchup of the season when they head to Delaware to take on Delaware on Friday, October 16th, with game time set for 7:00 p.m.
