WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J.-  Monmouth University's women's lacrosse team fell 13-8 to Quinnipiac on Saturday afternoon.

The Hawks, which will miss the NEC Tournament for the first time in program history, ends the season with a 10-7 record and a 5-4 mark in the Northeast Conference.  Quinnipiac's 8-1 NEC mark (11-4) is the best in the conference and earned the Bobcats the No. 1 seed and the right to host the 2011 NEC Tournament.

Monmouth had the early lead but allowed Quinnipiac a late five-goal unanswered run towards the end of the first half to take a two-goal lead into the break.  Then, with the scored tied at 8-8 with 20:28 to play, Bobcat Lianne Toomey scored on an unassisted shot from behind the net to take a one-goal lead and spark another five-goal Quinnipiac run, this time to end the game.

Quinnipiac struck first with Christine Sinnigen taking a feed from Jennifer Skipper but Hawk Molly O'Brien (Kennett Square, Pa./Unionville) tied the game up just over a minute later.  Senior Kaitlin Feeney (Baltimore, Md./Towson HS) scored on a free position attempt exactly one minute later for MU's first lead.  The team's traded goals back and forth over the next two minutes before Carissa Franzi (Fairfield, N.J./West Essex) tallied back to back goals to take a 5-3 lead.  Quinnipiac then rattled off four unanswered goals, including two off the stick of junior Marissa Caroleo to take a 7-5 lead into halftime.

Feeney scored her second goal of the game at the 28:16 mark of the second half to cut the lead to one.  Caroleo regained the two-goal margin for the Bobcats but back to back O'Brien goals tied the game at 8-8 before QU closed out the final 17 minutes of the game with five unanswered goals.

Monmouth held a 29-26 advantage in shots but Quinnipiac netminder Noelle Martello made 13 saves.  The Hawks also forced nine of 15 QU turnovers, including three from senior Danielle Hawkins (Havre De Grace, Md./Havre De Grace), who also had three ground balls.  O'Briend led the Hawks with three goals and five ground balls.  Franzi and Feeney each had two goals, while the former had three draw controls and two ground balls.  MU goaltender Kirby Mundorf (Cambridge, Md./Seton Keogh) had five saves. 

Caroleo had five goals, with Toomey scoring a trio and Devon Gibney finishing with a pair.  Gibney also had seven draw controls, three caused turnovers and two assists in the contest.