VILLANOVA, Pa. – Monmouth University field hockey senior Trish O'Dwyer (Dublin, Ireland/Loreto Beaufort) posted seven points for the second time in her career as the forward registered her second career hat trick to go along with her program-leading 26th assist to pace the Hawks to a 4-1 road win at Villanova, Sunday afternoon. Freshman Meg Donahue (Wyomissing, Pa./Berks Catholic) notched three-points of her own for the Blue and White, while classmate Christen Piersanti (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) posted seven saves in cage to help the Hawks improve to 5-6 on the year.

O'Dwyer, the 2014 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Preseason Player of the Year, has scored in five straight games to increase her season total to eight. Her three goals marks her 10th career multi-goal game and her first hat trick since scoring three at Robert Morris her first year in a MU uniform. With the helper on Donahue's first half marker, Monmouth's all-time assist leader increased her team-best total to six.

"As a whole, this was a great weekend for our team and I was happy to see we were able to put back-to-back aggressive games together on less than a day's rest," commented head coach Carli Figlio. "Coming out with a win today was important and seeing us stick to our game plan this weekend is really promising to see with only two non-league games left on our schedule."

Villanova (3-8) controlled the first 15 minutes of play, outshooting the Hawks, 8-1, while earning nine of the first 11 corner opportunities of the game, but could not get one past Piersanti and the defensive unit. O'Dwyer's unassisted tally in the 19th minute broke the scoreless tie as the Dublin, Ireland native dribbled down to the end line where she fired a close range shot past the Wildcats' goalkeeper, Jordyn Clipstone for the 1-0 lead.

In similar fashion, O'Dwyer took the ball down to the end line in the 27th minute, but this time finding the stick of Donahue who connected on her fifth goal of the season and second marker in as many games to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead heading into the break.

Villanova cut lead to one 5:42 into the second half as Jessica Swoboda successfully converted a penalty stroke. Amanda Schoenfeld (West Sayville, N.Y./Connetquot) fired shot on target 22 minutes later that was steered aside by Clipstone, but O'Dwyer was there on the doorstep to hammer home the rebound to give MU a commanding 3-1 lead. Donahue and O'Dwyer connected with a give-and-go on a breakaway with just under three minutes to play to cap off the scoring for the Hawks.

O'Dwyer fired 10 shots, six of which reaching target, while Donahue, who has seven points over her last three games, registered four attempts. Schoenfeld generated three shots and sophomore Alyssa Ercolino (West Long Branch, N.J./Shore Regional) finished the game with one.

Piersanti made seven saves for the second time this season, one save off her season high, to capture her fourth win of the year. Monmouth, who ranked third in the nation in defensive saves entering the weekend, increased its season total to nine as O'Dwyer and sophomore Casey Hanna (Seaville, N.J./Ocean City) each cleared a shot off the line. Clipstone made seven saves in defeat for Villanova.

The Hawks outshot the Wildcats for the game, 18-15, while Villanova held a 15-9 advantage in penalty corners.

Monmouth concludes its non-conference schedule next weekend as it travels to take on Penn on Thursday, October 9th, at 4:00 p.m. before returning home to face intrastate rival Rutgers on Sunday, October 12th at 1:00 p.m.

-@MonmouthFH-