EMMITTSBURG, Md.- Monmouth University's women's lacrosse team (4-6, 2-1 NEC) dropped a 10-9 battle with rival Mount St. Mary's (3-8, 3-0 NEC) on Sunday afternoon.
The Hawks dug themselves a four-goal deficit in the first half, when Mount darted out to a 5-1 advantage. The two teams have played six one-goal games since 2004 It was the first conference loss of the season for the Hawks and just the third regular season NEC loss in the last four seasons.
Mount's Kathleen Rossetti scored the game's first two goals with Ashley Johnson scoring an unassisted tally with 22:51 left in the half to push the lead to 3-0. Sophomore Rachel Feirstein (St. James, N.Y./Smithtown East) snuck an 8-meter shot past Mount goalie Brigid McTavish at 17:11 but the Mountaineers answered with two straight goals and the home squad's advantage was 5-1.
The Hawks then launched a 4-1 run started by Molly O'Brien's (Kennett Square, Pa./Unionville) unassisted scored with just over 10 minutes to play. Megan Brennan (King of Prussia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) then set up Ali Pollock (Waervliet, N.Y./Shaker) for a goal before notching one of her own. Mount's Kelly Taylor broke up the run with 48 ticks left in the half, giving Mount a 6-4 lead. With eight seconds left, Shawn Evans (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) scored on an eight-meter to cut the deficit to 6-5 going into halftime.
Mount scored two of the second half's first three goals, taking a 8-6 lead on Katelyn Catanese's free position goal with 20:40 to play. Two minutes later Feirstein cut the lead to one on a 8-meter goal of her own before Brennan tied the game with 14:21 to play in regulation.
Lucy Pompa's goal with 9:12 to play gave the Mountaineers a 9-8 lead before senior Brianna Gauthier's goal with 5:55 remaining, which proved to be the eventual game-winner. The Hawks closed to within one on a Feirstein unassisted goal with 1:02 to play but Monmouth was still left a goal short when time ran out.
The statsheet was virtually even, with Mount holding a 24-22 advantage in shots. McTavish made five saves in the game with MU netminder Monica Johnson (Radnor, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) making six stops in the loss. Ashley Johnson led the Mountaineers with four points (3g-1a), while Rossetti and Pompa each tallying a pair of goals.
The Hawks were led by Brennan, who had three goals and an assist to go along with three ground balls and three caused turnovers. Feirstein had three goals while Pollock had two points (1g-1a), two ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers.
Monmouth will look to get back on track next Friday, April 3, when they travel to Staten Island to face Wagner.
