WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J.- Monmouth University (9-3, 4-0 MAAC) women's lacrosse team won its sixth straight contest on Wednesday after dispatching conference rival Manhattan (2-11, 0-5 MAAC) 12-6 at Monmouth Stadium.

The Hawks, who outshot the Jaspers 39-9 in the contest, shot out to a 6-1 halftime lead but had to fend off a late surge by Manhattan to claim their fourth league victory. Reigning MAAC Offensive Player of the Week Marial Pierce (Middleburg, Va./St. John's Catholic Prep) put up another incredible effort, finishing with six points on three goals and a trio of assists. Pierce was also active without the ball, causing three turnovers, gathering seven ground balls and winning six draw controls.

Defensively, Monmouth was relentless, caused 18 of Manhattan's 25 turnovers. Defenders Eva Irwin (Alexandria, Va./Bishop Ireton), Gracie Williams (Reston, Va./Herndon) and Kristina Vangeli (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) each forced three turnovers in the game.

Monmouth built a 6-0 lead over the first 21 minutes of the game with Pierce scoring twice and assisting on the first goal of the game. Sophomore Olivia Higson (Cheadle Hulme, England/Withington Girls School) had a pair of markers in the first frame, before Manhattan's Megan Yarusso scored on a free position shot with 4:41 left.

Sophomore Claudia LaMarca (West Long Branch, N.J./Shore Regional) pushed Monmouth's lead to 7-1 with her goal at the 27:24 mark of the second half. Manhattan was able to capitalize off MU miscues and saves from Jasper goalie Christina Fiorinelli to go on a three goal run and cut the lead to 7-4. Yarusso tallied a pair of goals in the six-minute run but Pierce answered on a free position attempt to give MU an 8-4 lead with 13:49 remaining. Manhattan's Darby Nolan responded less than a minute later with an unassisted goal but Monmouth extinguished the comeback by rattling off three goals in 1:01 to go up 11-5. Junior Michelle Gonzales (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) started the outburst with her second goal with Emily Barbieri (Parsippany, N.J./DePaul Catholic) and Higson notching goals with 23 seconds of each other. Both teams got a goal in the final five minutes to finish the scoring at 12-6.

Fiorinelli finished with 14 saves, while Yarusso led all scorers with four goals. Monmouth won 12 of the 20 draw controls in the contest and collected 27 ground balls. The Hawks committed 14 turnovers in the contest including just five in the second half.

Monmouth returns to Monmouth Stadium on Saturday to face Marist on ESPN3 at 1 p.m.