HAMDEN, Conn.- Despite taking a one-goal lead with just under eight minutes to play, Monmouth women's lacrosse team's bid to stay undefeated in conference play was shattered by two late Quinnipiac goals.
The Hawks, 5-6 overall and 3-1 in league play, took a 7-6 lead on junior Molly O'Brien's (Kennett Square, Pa./) third goal of the game with 7:58 remaining in the game. Quinnipiac (5-4, 4-0 NEC) tied the game less than four minutes later on a Devon Gibney free position shot. The two teams battled over the next four-plus minutes before Katie Latonick found the back of the net with five seconds on the clock to give the Bobcats the victory.
Senior Megan Brennan (King of Prussia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) started the scoring up with a goal less than 45 seconds into the game but the home team Bobcats answered with a pair of goals to take a 2-1 lead. The teams traded goals over the final 25 minutes of the first half in a defensive battle that saw the two teams go scoreless for a 17 minute stretch. Quinnipiac's Gibney scored with 2:13 left in the half to give her squad a 4-3 edge going into halftime.
Quinnipiac took a 5-3 lead early in the second before O'Brien answered with back-to-back goals to knot the game at 5-5 with 19:40 to play. QU answered 19 seconds later to retake the lead but nine minutes later senior Shawn Evans (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) took a feed from Rachel Feirstein (St. James, N.Y./Smithtown East) and beat Quinnipiac's goaltender to tie the game. O'Brien would give MU the lead for the last time two minutes later at the 7:58 mark.
The two teams were virtually even on the statsheet, with Quinnipiac owning a 21-19 advantage in shots. Quinnipiac goaltender Lexi Destefano made seven saves in the win, Monmouth's Kirby Mundorf (Catonsville, Md./Seton Keogh) made nine.
O'Brien led all scorers with her three goals while Evans and Brennan each had two goals. Gibney and Marissa Caraleo each had a pair of goals for the Bobcats.
The Hawks will face the NEC's other undefeated team, Sacred Heart on Saturday in Fairfield, Conn.
