NEW YORK- Monmouth women's lacrosse team fell to 0-2 on the season after suffering a 18-13 setback to Columbia at Robert Kraft Field on Sunday afternoon.
The Hawks were led by senior midfielder Megan Brennan (King of Prussia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll), who scored four goals and assisted on three other scores in the loss. The game, which was intended to be Monmouth's home opener, was moved to Columbia after snow was unable to be cleared from Kessler Field.
A rough first half put the Hawks in an 8-3 hole going into halftime. Columbia darted out to a 2-0 lead in the first two minutes on a pair of Gabrielle Geronimos goals. The Lions went up 3-0 before senior Shawn Evans (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) tallied Monmouth's first goal at the 20:03 mark. Columbia scored three more goals over the next four minutes before Rachel Feirstein (St. James, N.Y./Smithtown East) put one past Lion netminder Karlee Blank to cut the lead to 6-2. Evans scored her second goal with five minutes to put Monmouth back three, but Columbia tallied two more goals before the half to take a five-goal lead into the break.
The teams traded goals in the opening 10 minutes of the second half before Feirstein scored back to back goals to put Monmouth back 11-7. Brennan then chipped in two of her four second-half goals and the Blue & White trailed by just two with 19:34 to play. That was the closest the Hawks would get as Columbia outscored them 7-4 the rest of the way.
Brennan's seven points led all scorers, while Feirstein and Evans each finished with three goals. Senior tri-captain Ali Pollock (Watervliet, N.Y./Shaker) had four points on a goal and three assists, with her second assist (on a Brennan goal) giving her 50 for her career. Senior Brittney McLaughlin (Coram, N.Y./Longwood) tallied a season-high three points with a goal and two assists. Freshman midfielder Kirstyn Urbas (Sewell, N.J./Washington Twp.) tallied her first collegiate goal in the contest.
The statistics were even across the board with Columbia owning a 32-30 advantage in shots. Monmouth was a combined 0-7 on free position attempts, while the Lions were 6-10. Junior Kirby Mundorf (Catonsville, Md./Seton Keogh) and freshman Emma Taylor (Liverpool, N.Y./CBA) combined for just five saves on the day. Blank tallied 11 saves in net for the Lions.
Monmouth will look for its first win on Friday night when the Hawks take on Navy at 7 p.m.
