WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J.- Monmouth University's Women's Lacrosse team improved to 2-0 on the season with a 5-2 win over Drexel on Wednesday afternoon.

The Hawks used three goals in the first half and an imposing defensive effort to down the Dragons, who fell to 0-1 on the season. Goaltender Katie Donohoe (Peterborough, Ontario/Holy Cross Catholic Seminary) had five saves, three ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers in the win. The victory was the program's first over a member of the Colonial Athletic Association. It was also the first time Monmouth has opened the season 2-0 since the 2008 season (wins over Columbia and LaSalle).

“We needed to move them enough to get an 8-meter attempt or create some gaps to get shots off and I thought we did that," said Head Coach Denise Wescott. "Our defense played great, Katie had some great saves. The defense has done a great job of picking people up and forcing some bad shots. We had some great checks and steals and were able to get pieces of a few shots.”

Hawk leading scorer and reigning MAAC Offensive Player of the Week Allison Stathius (Delran, N.J./Delran) started off the scoring with an unassisted goal at the 26:13 mark of the first half. Fourteen minutes later Drexel's Milan White tied the game up but the Hawks would take a 3-1 lead into halftime after scoring a pair of goals in a 1:47 span. Sophomore Olivia Higson (Cheadle Hulme, England/Withington Girl's School) scored on a free position shot at the 8:17 mark before junior Marial Pierce (Middleburg, Va./St. John's Catholic Prep) added the to the Monmouth lead with 6:30 remaining.

Monmouth pulled ahead 4-1 when Higson struck again just 2:19 into the second half. Drexel got their second and final goal with 18:39 left in regulation on a Lacey Aghazarian goal before senior captain Emily Barbieri (Parsippany, N.J./DePaul Catholic) tallied her first goal of the season off a pass from Pierce to make the score 5-2.

Donohoe made three of her five saves in the second half, including a key pair on free position attempts. Higson led all scorers while midfielder Claudia LaMarca (West Long Branch, N.J./Shore Regional) had three caused turnovers in the win.

Drexel outshot Monmouth 19-11 and held a 6-3 advantage in draw controls in the contest. The Dragons committed 20 turnovers compared to 16 for the Hawks.

Dragon goalie Teresha Bradley had four saves and a ground ball in the loss, while Kelly McDevitt, Jocelyn Quaile and Joelle Hartke had a pair of caused turnovers each.

Monmouth will have a week off before heading up to Piscataway to face in-state rival Rutgers on February 25.