WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J.- Monmouth University women's lacrosse
team (10-5, 5-3 NEC) dropped a 12-6 decision to Sacred Heart (6-9, 5-3) at Kessler Field on
Thursday afternoon.
The Hawks, who led by a pair of goals early, managed just three goals in each
frame, while SHU used a seven-goal unanswered streak to claim its sixth straight
win over MU.
"We committed too many turnovers in key situations to win," said head coach
Denise Wescott. "Sacred Heart also did a
nice job getting the ball in front of the cage to their cutter and scoring."
Monmouth struck early on in the contest when senior Carissa Franzi (Fairfield,
N.J./West Essex) found the back of the net twice in the first four minutes of
the game. The Hawks' 2-0 cushion was cut in half midway through the first
stanza by the Pioneers Kate Kmiotek, who scored on a free position attempt.
MU regained its two goal advantage when Kirstyn Urbas (Sewell,
N.J./Washington Twp.) netted her sixth goal of the season with less than 11
minutes to play in the opening half. The three-time defending Northeast
Conference Champions responded with five consecutive goals before halftime, led
by Kaitlin Rochler's two tallies, which gave Sacred Heart a 6-3 lead at the
break.
Sacred Heart continued its run to start the second frame, as
Jessica Ingrilli scored twice to cap off the seven goal scoring streak.
Monmouth's Molly O'Brien (Kennett Square, Pa./Unionville) and Rachel Feirstein
(St. James, N.Y./Smithtown East) scored back-to-back goals to cut the deficit
to 8-5, the closest the Hawks would get in the contest. The Pioneers scored
four of the final five goals to end the game, 12-6.
O'Brien led the team with three points, on two goals and an
assist. Franzi and Fierstein each had two points with defender Gianna D'Urso
(Fairfield, N.J./West Essex) collecting three ground balls and causing three
turnovers in the loss. Goaltender Kirby Mundorf (Cambridge, Md./Seton Keogh)
had four saves as the Hawks were outshot, 19-16.
MU committed 18 turnovers and 23 fouls, compared with Sacred
Heart who had 21 miscues and just nine fouls. Kmiotek led all scorers with five
points, while collecting three ground balls and causing three turnovers.
Netminder Megan Pepe, had seven saves in the win.
Monmouth returns to Kessler Field for Senior Day on Saturday,
April 23, when it hosts Quinnipiac at 1:00 p.m.
