SMITHFIELD, R.I.- Monmouth University's
women's lacrosse team (6-3, 1-1 NEC) suffered its first conference loss of the season
on Sunday afternoon, falling to Bryant University (2-7, 1-1 NEC) in Smithfield,
R.I. by a score of 8-7.
The loss was MU's first against Bryant, a team that joined the Northeast
Conference two seasons ago after transitioning from Division II. It also snapped a four-game road winning
streak for the Hawks. Monmouth was just
7-for-30 on shots, including 1-for-7 of free position attempts.
I thought our defense played pretty solid," said head coach Denise Wescott. "Going 7-30 shooting was tough on our
offense. Bryant's goalie played very well and they ran their gameplan to earn a
good win. Hopefully we'll learn from it
and move forward."
After trailing for the entire game, Monmouth junior Sam Lillo (Short Hills,
N.J./Milburn) netted her 12
th goal of the season with 10:12 left in
regulation to tie the game at 7-7. The
tie was short lived however, as Lauren Sheridan tallied her second goal of the
game just 30 seconds later to give the Bulldogs back the lead, this time for
good. The Hawks had five shots in the
final nine-plus minutes, including a free position attempt by senior Molly O'Brien
(Kennett Square, Pa./Unionville), which was saved by Bulldog netminder Lauren
Filipone.
Bryant jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Monmouth, with all three goals coming on
free position attempts. Olivia Salata (Broomall,
Pa./Archbishop Carroll) and Carissa Franzi (Fairfield, N.J./West Essex) scored
back to back goals for the Hawks at the 6:33 and 4:39 marks, respectively to
slice the lead to one. Bryant took the
ensuing draw control and streamed down the field, scoring its fourth goal just
20 seconds after Franzi's to regain a 4-2 advantage. Each team registered one last goal at the end
of the period and the Bulldog's took a 5-3 lead into halftime.
The Bulldogs got their sixth goal of the game a mere 31 seconds into the second
frame on a Madeleine Pickett shot and eight minutes ticked off the clock before
Monmouth was able to get a score. Junior
Erica Abendschoen (West Caldwell, N.J./James Caldwell) took a feed from
freshman Rachel Obregon (Fairfax Station, Va./W.T. Woodson) and beat Filipone
to slice the lead to 6-4 with 22:34 remaining.
Three minutes later Obregon scored a goal of her own and MU found itself
back just one. Bryant matched that goal
before Franzi and Lillo scored a pair of goals 41 seconds apart to knot the
game at 7-7. Twenty seconds later
Sheridan beat MU goalie Kirby Mundorf (Columbia, Md./Seton Keogh), on a goal
assisted by Haley Bloom to give the Bulldogs their first win in three attempts
over the Hawks.
Franzi led the way for Monmouth with two goals, five ground balls and a
career-high three caused turnovers. O'Brien
and Abendschoen each had a goal and an assist while Obregon had a career high
in points and assists with a goal and two helpers. Junior Sabrina Heskins (Wayne, N.J./Wayne
Hills) registered career highs in ground balls and caused turnovers with five
and three, respectively. Mundorf made eight
saves and had a pair of ground balls in the contest.
Bryant held a 11-6 advantage in draw controls but committed 11 more turnovers
than the Hawks. Filipone had 14 saves in
the win, while Bloom led all scorers with two goals and three assists for five
points.
Monmouth will look to rebound next Friday when they welcome Wagner College to
Kessler Field at 3 p.m.
