BETHLEHEM, PA. - In its highest scoring output of the season, the Monmouth University field hockey team defeated the Lehigh Mountain Hawks, 4-1 at the Ulrich Sports Complex, on Friday night. Monmouth, which received votes in the latest Kookaburra / NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll, improves its record to 5-1 while Lehigh falls to 1-7 on the year.
"It is a good result for us," said head coach Carli Figlio. "We started slow, but picked it up in the second half and it is great to see goals by numerous players. Tonight was an overall solid performance."
Monmouth struck 10:58 into the game as Nora Bosmans (Oakhurst, N.J./Ocean Township) sent a pass into the circle that was redirected by senior Katelyn Buckley (Westampton, N.J./Rancocas Valley) past Mountain Hawk goalkeeper Jessica Miller for her second goal of the season.
Carrying a 1-0 advantage into the second half, the Hawks added to their lead 16:21 into the frame as sophomore Michelle Pieczynski (Doylestown, Pa./Central Buck West) found classmate Kimmy Baligian (Whitehouse Station, N.J./Hunterdon Central) on the left side, who beat Lehigh's goaltender replacement Lilia Stefaniwsky for her third goal of the year.
The offensive attack continued with just under 15 minutes remaining as Pieczynski broke away from the defense and beat Stefaniwsky one on one for her team-leading fourth goal of the year.
Lehigh cut the lead to 3-1 just over two minutes later as the Mountain Hawks took advantage of a penalty corner. Lauren Cawley received a pass from Kimberly Eng that beat Hawks goalkeeper Melissa Katz (Tinton Falls, N.J./Monmouth Regional [Michigan State]).
MU answered 2:07 later as Bethlehem native Kayleigh Kalamar (Bethlehem, Pa./Freedom) blasted a shot from just inside the circle that caromed off the post and into the cage for her second of the season.
Katz earned her fifth win of the year, making four saves on the night. Miller made seven saves in her first half of work while Stefaniwsky made six saves in her 35 minutes of action.
Monmouth fired a season-high 25 shots, 18 on target, compared to Leigh's six. The Hawks also held a 10-5 advantage in penalty corners.
Monmouth returns to action this Sunday when it travels in-state rival Rutgers in the "Stick It to Cancer" game starting at 1 p.m.
