BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Behind three points from both senior Trish O'Dwyer (Dublin, Ireland/Loreto Beaufort) and sophomore Alyssa Ercolino (West Long Branch, N.J./Shore Regional), the Monmouth University field hockey team defeated Lehigh, 3-1, in its first road game of the season, Sunday afternoon at Ulrich Field. Freshman Meg Donahue (Wyomissing, Pa./Berks Catholic) scored the other goal for the Blue and White, which improves to 2-2 with the victory.
“It's great to pick up a win in our first road game,” commented eighth-year head coach Carli Figlio. “We are making strides in the right direction as a group. We will get back to work next week to prepare for a very good Old Dominion team.”
Gabby Tofig got the scoring started in the eighth minute for Lehigh (0-4), redirecting a shot past MU's starting goalkeeper Christen Piersanti (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) to give the Mountain Hawks an early 1-0 lead. MU answered five minutes later when it was awarded an offensive penalty corner opportunity. Ercolino inserted to the top of the circle that was stopped by rookie Maartje Wicherink (Hilversum, Netherlands/Gemeetelijk Gymnasium Hilversum) and pushed forward where O'Dwyer unloaded a shot to the back of the cage for her first goal of the season.
Monmouth took the lead with less than a minute to go in the half. Lehigh's goalkeeper Julie Ward came out to play the ball in the circle where Donahue corralled the loose ball, settled, and fired a shot into the cage for her second tally of the season with 35 ticks left in the opening stanza. Lehigh quickly rushed downfield and earned a penalty corner with no time left in the half. Piersanti made the save on the initial shot on cage, while the second Mountain Hawk attempt went allowing the Blue and White to enter the break with the one goal lead.
Monmouth tacked on an insurance goal with under 10 minutes left in regulation. On a penalty corner opportunity, O'Dwyer ripped a shot from the point which deflected off Ercolino's stick and ricocheted the ball off the cross bar and into the cage for the local product's third goal of the season.
Piersanti made eight first-half saves, while senior Amanda Westerweller (Holmdel, N.J./Holmdel) played the second half for the Blue and White, recording four saves. Ward was credited with 15 saves for Lehigh in the losing effort.
For the game, Monmouth fired a season-high 25 shots, while Lehigh attempted 17 shots. The Hawks earned 14 penalty corners chances compared to the Mountain Hawks seven.
Monmouth returns to action next Sunday, September 14th when it travels to Norfolk, Virginia for a battle with national contender Old Dominion. The contest with the nationally ranked Monarchs is slated for 1 p.m.
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