MUFH WINS THIRD STRAIGHT WITH 4-2 VICTORY OVER VERMONT

WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. - The Monmouth University field hockey team ran its winning streak to three games with a 4-2 victory over the visiting University of Vermont, Saturday afternoon at So Sweet A Cat Field. The Hawks, who received a three-point effort from senior Tara Brown (Hatboro, Pa./Archbishop Wood), improve to 4-3 on the season, while the Catamounts, who had their four-game winning streak snapped, dropped to 4-3 on the year.

"This week in practice, we really focused on our consistency and for us to come out strong in the first half really proved to be affective for us," said the 2010 Northeast Conference Coach of the Year, Carli Figlio. "Converting on plays in the circle allowed us to get an early lead against a strong Vermont team."

Monmouth struck in the 21st minute as graduate student Morganne Firmstone (Honesdale, Pa./Honesdale) sent in a penalty corner insert to senior Melissa Murphy (West Long Branch, N.J./Shore Regional) at the top the circle. Murphy stopped the ball, pushed it forward for Brown who unleashed a shot that deflected off a defender's stick into the top right corner of the cage for her first goal of the season and a 1-0 MU lead. Three minutes later, senior Kayleigh Kalamar (Bethlehem, Pa./Freedom) tipped in her own rebound for her first goal for the season, pushing the Hawks' lead to 2-0.

Vermont responded with less than 10 minutes to play in the first half as Colleen Slaughter beat MU's sophomore goalkeeper Teresa Mathews (Lumberton, N.J./Rancocas Valley) to cut the deficit to one, 2-1.

Sophomore Alex Carroll (Oceanport, N.J./Shore Regional) took a feed from Firmstone off a penalty corner and fed classmate Patricia O'Dwyer (Dublin, Ireland/Loreto Beaufort) near the top of the circle. The forward then sent a return pass to Carroll who fired a shot from the left side past Vermont's keeper, Stephanie Zygmunt, for her fourth of the season and a 3-1 Hawks' advantage with 5:12 ticks left to play in the half.

With two minutes remaining in the first half, junior Kimmy Baligian (Whitehouse Station, N.J./Hunterdon Central) found Brown inside midfield where she sent a shot towards the far post. Freshman Amanda Schoenfeld (West Sayville, N.Y./Connetquot) tipped it in for her first career goal, increasing MU's lead to 4-1 heading into the break.

Despite outshooting the Hawks 11-4 in the second half, and receiving Slaughter's second goal of the game, the Catamounts second-half rally fell short, snapping their winning-streak at four games.

Mathews earns her third straight victory making two saves in cage for the Hawks, while Zygmunt turned away six shots in the losing effort.

Both teams registered 14 shots, while Vermont held the advantage in penalty corners, 9-6.

Monmouth, which went 4-2 in its six-game home stand, hits the road tomorrow for the first time since August as it travels to in-state rival Rutgers for the "Stick it to Cancer" game at 3:00 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

#21 Morganne Firmstone: M; 5' 6"; Freshman

#23 Melissa Murphy: D; 5' 2"; Freshman

#12 Tara Brown: M; 5' 6"; Freshman

#27 Kayleigh Kalamar: M; 5' 6"; Freshman

#3 Kimmy Baligian: F; 5' 2"; Freshman

#13 Alex Carroll: D; 5' 2"; Freshman

#96 Teresa Mathews: GK; 5' 1"; Freshman

#16 Trish O'Dwyer: F; 5' 9"; Sophomore

#2 Amanda Schoenfeld: F; 4' 11"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#21 Morganne Firmstone
: 5' 6"; Freshman
: M

#23 Melissa Murphy
: 5' 2"; Freshman
: D

#12 Tara Brown
: 5' 6"; Freshman
: M

#27 Kayleigh Kalamar
: 5' 6"; Freshman
: M

#3 Kimmy Baligian
: 5' 2"; Freshman
: F

#13 Alex Carroll
: 5' 2"; Freshman
: D

#96 Teresa Mathews
: 5' 1"; Freshman
: GK

#16 Trish O'Dwyer
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: F

#2 Amanda Schoenfeld
: 4' 11"; Freshman
: F