WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J.- Monmouth University's women's lacrosse team (7-3 (2-1 NEC)) outscored rival Wagner (2-7 (1-1 NEC) 8-1 in the second half to notch a 14-7 victory on Saturday afternoon at Kessler field.
The Hawks trailed 6-3 mid-way through the first half before scoring a trio of goals late to head into halftime tied up. MU then used a 8-1 second half to secure it's 16 th straight victory over the Seahawks. Senior Rachel Feirstein (St. James, N.Y./Smithtown East) had five points to pace the Hawk offense, while Carissa Franzi (Fairfield, Conn./West Essex) had a career-high four assists and seven ground balls. Junior Olivia Salata (Broomall, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) had a career-best five points on two goals and a trio of assists.
MU opened up a two-goal lead in the first five minutes on goals from sophomore Tori Jordan (Sewell, N.J./Washington Twp.) and Abendschoen. Wagner tied the game up on a pair of goals that came within 22 seconds of each other. Sam Lillo (Short Hills, N.J./Milburn) put MU ahead 3-2 on a feed from Molly O'Brien (Kennett Square, Pa./Unionville). The Seahawks tore off four straight goals over a nine minute period to take a commanding 6-3 lead.
Monmouth battled back though, tying up the game with three straight unanswered goals in the final 3:15. Salata scored first after taking a pass from Franzi and beating Wagner goalie Morgan Roach. Franzi then came back and fed Jordan to cut the Seahawk lead to 6-5. Salata tied the game after picking up a loose ball in front of the cage and hitting the upper right corner with 1:08 to play.
MU goalie Kirby Mundorf (Cambridge, Md./Seton Keogh), who struggled early in the contest, rebounded with seven saves in the second half to earn her seventh win of the season. Franzi finished with an impressive stat sheet, collecting seven ground balls, five draw controls and four caused turnovers in addition to her four assists. Feirstein had four goals and an assist while Lillo had two goals and three draw controls.
Wagner was led by Clark and Morin, who had tow goals each. Clark also had five ground balls and four caused turnovers while Roach finished with eight saves in the loss.
The Hawks are back in action on Sunday when they host Long Island at 1 p.m.
"Wagner brought it to us in the beginning and we needed to change some things defensively," said head coach Denise Wescott. "Once we did we started to catch up. I think the team adjusted together in the 2nd half and we played much better. Rachel did a great job going to goal especially coming off her sprained ankle. Olivia also had a great game finding backdoor opportunities and slowbreaks. It was wonderful seeing so many assisted goals."
It took the Blue & White 1:04 to regain the lead, with Feirstein finding the back of the cage to take a 7-6 lead. Feirstein returned with a goal to give MU a 8-6 lead before Caroline Clark cut the lead to one with what would be Wagner's lone goal of the half. Monmouth tore off six unanswered goals, including two more from Fierstein and junior Erica Abendschoen (West Caldwell, N.J./James Caldwell). Freshman Allison Heath (Newton Square, Pa./Radnor) tallied her first collegiate goal with 2:53 to end the scoring at 14-7.
