WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J.- Monmouth University women's lacrosse team fell 19-9 to instate rival Rutgers University on Tuesday afternoon at Kessler Field.

The Scarlet Knights sprinted out to a 5-0 lead in the first eight minutes as part of a 12-2 first half advantage.  Rutgers improved to 7-4 overall with the win while MU (8-4) had its two-game win streak snapped.  The Hawks are now 0-9 all-time against RU, including a 0-6 mark at home.

"Rutgers is a very talented team, they played aggressive ball and took advantage of every mistake and opportunity," said Head Coach Denise Wescott.  "We got some shots off early but their goalie made some nice saves.  As we settled in I thought we got some good looks and also caused some turnovers. We swung momentum in our direction in the second half and I thought we played much better ball."

MU senior Rachel Feirstein (St. James, N.Y./Smithtown East) scored Monmouth's first goal of the game to cut the Scarlet Knight lead to 5-1 but RU answered with four more goals, including two from senior Marlena Welsh.  Feirstein tallied another goal on a feed from junior Olivia Salata (Broomall, Pa./Archibishop Carroll) with 7:09 to play and Rutger's lead sat at 9-2.  Three more Scarlet Knight goals ended the half.

Welsh tallied her fourth goal of the game to start the second half but just under a minute later senior Molly O'Brien (Kennett Square, Pa./Unionville) answered right back.  MU went on to score three of the next four goals to close the gap to 14-6 with 16:51 to play in regulation.  Senior Kaitlin Feeney (Baltimore, Md./Towson HS) scored two of those goals, both on feeds from Feirstein.  Four consecutive Rutgers goals over a five minute span clinched the game for the Scarlet Knights.  O'Brien finished the scoring with 45 seconds remaining on a free position shot.

Monmouth goaltender Kirby Mundorf (Cambridge, Md./Seton Keogh) made six saves as the Hawks were outshot by a 34-22 pace.  Rutgers, which played two goalies in the game, had nine total saves on the game.  MU committed 16 turnovers and corralled 14 draw controls in the game, compared with 13 and 16 for Rutgers, respectively.

Feirstein led the Hawks with six points on four goals and two assists while Feeney and O'Brien each had two goals.  Welsh led all scorers with five goals, while five other RU players had four points.

Monmouth is back in action on Friday afternoon when the Hawks travel to face NEC rival Mount St. Mary's at 7 p.m.