FAIRFIELD, Conn.- Monmouth University (10-4, 5-1 MAAC) suffered its first conference defeat when Fairfield's Riley Hellstein completed her hat trick with just 9.8 seconds remaining to give the Stags a 8-7 win and sole control of second place.
“I felt like we had opportunities to win the game today”, said Wescott. “I thought giving them 8-meter shots and yellow cards hurt us in the second half. We forced some shots and needed to be more disciplined to finish offensively. Fairfield came out hard on us in the second half and we played not to lose instead of playing to win. We need to be more disciplined, commit less fouls and make better shot selections.”
Claudia LaMarca (West Long Branch, N.J./Shore Regional), Marial Pierce (Middleburg, Va./St. John's Catholic Prep) and Carly Sane (Clifton, Va./Centreville) each tallied a pair of goals for the Hawks. Fairfield came back from a two goal deficit in the first five minutes of the frame before Pierce's second goal with 19:14 pushed the Hawks up 7-6. Monmouth had several shots to put distance between them and Fairfield but the Stags' patience paid off and Julienne Mascera scored on a free position shot with 3:01 to tie the game back up. Hellstein weaved through the Monmouth defense and scored with 9.8 seconds left to hand Monmouth its first road loss of the 2015 season and snap the Hawks' seven game win streak.
Monmouth dug itself a 4-2 hole in the first half but responded with five unanswered goals to take a 6-4 lead into the break. The first four Fairfield goals came on free position attempts, as Monmouth was whistled for 30 fouls compared to just 23 for the Stags. The Hawks were able to muster just one goal in the second half, while the Stags surged for four, including Hellstein's game winner.
Hawk senior goalie Katie Donohoe (Peterborough, Ontario/Holy Cross Catholic Secondary) made 10 saves in net as Monmouth was outshot 25-21 in the contest. The Hawks held a 9-8 advantage in draw controls, but won only one of the six in the second half. Monmouth was handed four yellow cards in the contest, including three in the final 30 minutes.
Monmouth returns home on Saturday for a 12 PM match against league-leading Canisius College on ESPN3.
