WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – Freshman Christen Piersanti (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) made three saves, including a save on a penalty stroke with no time left in the first half, but the Monmouth University field hockey team fell to Lafayette, 3-1, Friday afternoon at So Sweet a Cat Field. The Hawks, who fall to 1-2 on the year, received their goal from senior forward Amanda Schoenfeld (West Sayville, N.Y./Connetquot), her first tally of the season.
Lafayette (3-0), which defeated No. 13 Boston College to open its year, started the scoring in the 18th minute when Amanda Magadan registered an unassisted marker off a broken penalty corner play. The Hawks responded less than a minute later when senior Hannah Loux (Souderton, Pa./Christopher Dock Mennonite) sent a ball towards the end line where Schoenfeld picked it up, cut across the middle and ripped a shot past Jessica Deutsch to even the score.
The Blue and White created a pair of scoring opportunities late in the first half. Senior Trish O'Dwyer (Dublin, Ireland/Loreto Beaufort) sent a crisp pass to Schoenfeld just outside the circle. The forward turned and fired a ball towards the right post where a diving Cori Allen (Gibbsboro, N.J./Eastern Regional [Iowa]) deflected the ball to the opposite post, just wide of the cage. Following a Lafayette foul in its offensive end, freshman Julie Laszio (Rotterdam, Netherlands/Rotterdams Montessori Lyceum) sent a big pass to classmate Meg Donahue (Wyomissing, Pa./Berks Catholic) beyond midfield. The rookie dished off to Schoenfeld who played wide to Loux where she sent a cross to the middle of the circle where Donahue's tip just trickled wide of the cage, keeping the score locked at one.
Without any time left in the opening half, the Leopards were awarded a penalty stroke due to an infraction in the circle. Lafayette's Brittany Blass took the shot towards the left post, but Piersanti got a stick on the ball and pushed it away to keep the score tied.
The Leopards' Ami Turner registered the game-winning goal in the 50th minute off a penalty corner and Magadan's second goal of the game with less than five minutes left in regulation helped propel the Leopards to the victory.
For the game, Lafayette outshot the Blue and White, 14-10, while the Hawks captured 10 penalty corner opportunities compared to LC's six, including a 8-2 advantage in the second half.
Monmouth will hit the road for the first time in 2014 on Sunday to battle Lehigh, its third straight Patriot League opponent. Start time from Bethlehem, Pa. is slated for 1 p.m.
- @MonmouthFH -
