WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J.- Monmouth University's (3-1) women's lacrosse team suffered its first loss of the season Saturday, falling to Towson University (1-0) by a score of 4-3 at Monmouth Stadium.

Monmouth held at 3-1 lead at halftime but the Tigers restricted the MU attack and scored a trio of goals in the final 30 minutes to earn their first win of the year. Towson's Kaitlyn Montalbano tallied her first goal of the game at a crucial time, beating Monmouth goalie Katie Donohoe (Peterborough, Ontario/Holy Cross Catholic Secondary) with 8:47 to play for what would play out as the game-winner.

“I was pleased with our effort level, we played at their level and could have won this game,” said Monmouth Head Coach Denise Wescott. “I was a little disappointed that we lost possession in our attacking end but we had six opportunities to put one away to tie it. We couldn't have asked anymore out from our defense and Katie. Katie had a great day, she kept us in the game while our offense was losing possession and not getting shots off. It was nice to see that the offense didn't give up, they just went at the cage again and got some looks.”

Donohoe and the Monmouth defense played outstanding all game, holding Preseason All-American Andi Raymond to just a pair of assists. The senior goalie made 11 saves in net, while collecting a pair of ground balls in the game. Towson held a 19-15 shot advantage in the game.

Monmouth shot out of the gates taking a quick 2-0 lead in the first 6:06 of the game with a pair of goals from sophomore Olivia Higson (Cheadle Hulme, England/Withington). Towson answered with a Duncan Paige goal at the 7:59 mark but Hawk junior Marial Pierce (Middleburg, Va./St. John's Catholic Prep) put MU up 3-1 with an unassisted goal with 2:06 showing before the half.

Towson climbed to within one nine minutes into the second half on a patient Gabby Cha shot, cutting the MU lead to 3-2. Despite getting a number of opportunities with the ball, Monmouth's offense was unable to get a goal in the second half when Taylor Moore's shot tied it up with 9:30 to play. Forty-seven seconds later Montalbano scored to complete the comeback and put Towson up 4-3. The Hawks had a pair of opportunities to score the equalizer late but second half turnovers and Towson's defense continued to plague the Hawks.

Pierce finished with a goal, three caused turnovers and four ground balls in the contest, while Higson led all scorers with two goals. Kristina Vangeli (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) had a pair of caused turnovers and ground balls on defense for MU. Monmouth committed 19 turnovers in the game, compared to 17 for the Tigers.

Towson goalie Kelsea Donnelly had four saves in net while Brianna Hamm had three ground balls and five draw controls for the Tigers.

Monmouth will host Delaware on Wednesday, March 4 at Monmouth Stadium. That game is slated to for broadcast on ESPN3.